


The life of Mark Lee

by tsukitachinu



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Choose Your Own Adventure, Friendship, Interactive Fiction, M/M, Romance, Strangers to Lovers, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:27:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 28,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25977448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsukitachinu/pseuds/tsukitachinu
Summary: Mark Lee is starting university, he has a whole life ahead of him and big dreams. He is smart, loves bad puns, believes in the supernatural and is easily convinced to do stupid things. He is also really strong at trivia, but is weak for beefy boys.Mark Lee is you video game character, you have to play with his life, pick the right path in order to make him live the best life possible. Player One, do you want to play?
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Mark Lee, Mark Lee/Lee Taeyong, Mark Lee/Na Jaemin, Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Mark Lee/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery, Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37





	1. mark lee moves in the dorm

**Author's Note:**

> Hello I'm really excited to share this project!  
> There are a few things you should know before reading/playing;
> 
> The overall rating is M, but only 2 chapters need that rating and you can read a full road with only G rating chapters. There is a note before every chapter with what rating this very chapter needs + any trigger warning if needed. Depending on the path you chose you will encounter tw or not (the most used ones are swearing and cheating)
> 
> The whole fic is posted on ao3 but i've also posted it on a [carrd](http://thelifeofmarklee.carrd.co), I think it's prettier and smoother other there, but you can stay on ao3 of course!!
> 
> _______________
> 
> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Mark Lee had chosen to stay a bit longer at home, in the comfort of living with his parents. Not having to cook, do the laundry or do the groceries was a luxury he couldn’t afford way too soon and he intended on using these privileges as long as possible. That is why he arrived at the university’s dorm the day before classes started instead of coming a week early like many other students to get accustomed to the campus life.

And that is also why Yukhei, his soon-to-be roommate was so impatient about meeting him. Yukhei arrived on the very first day the dorm opened, he was excited to start his new chapter of life at university, to meet new people, to live in a different city, and he thought his roommate might come in early as well and they would have a week worth of bonding time. Except he had no signs of his roommate. Until the day before classes, when he heard noise down the corridor and voices way too close to his door to be someone else. He hurried up to grab what he had prepared days before : lots of confetti,silly string and party hats. He got ready in front of the door and when it opened, he threw them at Mark Lee— and his mother (he didn’t think his mother would be there, otherwise he wouldn’t have, he didn’t mean to be disrespectful). Mark was surprised at first, but then he started laughing and accepted the party hat he was handed easily. It looked cute on him.

On Yukhei as well.

His mother didn’t stick around too long, she got rid of the bit of confetti on her head, helped Mark with a few moving boxes and then gave him lots of instructions and pointers, before finally heading off.

As soon as she left, Mark started unboxing and getting his part of the room organised, while Yukhei was sitting on his bed and asked him lots of questions about his hobbies, his life before, what his dreams are. It was weird for Mark at first to get such an open conversation about deep personal stuff on a first encounter, but Yukhei wasn’t judging and was really nice, and seemed like he really cared about getting to know him. Which Mark thought was nice since they were going to live together for a while.

Mark was happy at university, he had a wonderful roommate who became his friend in a few days, his classes were really interesting and he didn’t mind putting on extra work to get more details about the materials. But he wanted to experience university life even more and he was wondering whether he should get a senior to tutor him, or join a club and make more friends.

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ GET A TUTOR ] [ JOIN A CLUB ]**

**(chap.02) / (chap.05)**


	2. Get a tutor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Mark decided that having good grades was more important and therefore, went to the university’s administration to get a tutor. It wasn’t mandatory but some third and fourth year students agreed to be tutors in exchange for a free room in the dormitory or a discount on the university fees. Mark thanked the administration who gave him a number without a glance, they thankfully didn’t seem really bothered about the student. He waited until he got back to his dorm to text his tutor, thinking that it would be best to have papers ready to take notes of whatever his tutor wanted him to know. And also to be able to fill his bullet journal with an eventual first meeting date.  
Which was all for nothing because his potential tutor, Kun, didn’t reply on that day. Mark went to bed, without a reply after Yukhei and him talked about their day and said good night to each other.

He woke up with one unread text and got excited about it— he was so sure it’d be his tutor and was smiling at the idea that he would get pointers on university life. So he rushed to type his password and read the message.

From : Kun  
> Hi Mark, sorry I was at a party yesterday (but don’t worry, next time I’ll take you there!). So my name is Qian Kun and I’m a fourth year, majoring in geography with a history minor, so we should be able to get along. Are you free today ? I think it’d be best to meet for an hour or two and get to know each other, see what you’re expecting of me and all that.

Mark was literally rolling on his bed, kicking in the air, with a huge smile crossing his face. He knew it was stupid to get so excited about a tutoring meeting, but he really wanted to meet new people, and it was an upperclassman !! that was so cool !!

He replied in a few minutes and they decided on an hour and a place.

When they met everything seemed easy, conversation was flowing without any trouble or awkward pauses and Kun was nice. He didn’t judge Mark for being so school-orientated and even took notes about what Mark wanted, his goals and more.

After their meeting, Mark went back to the dorm and didn’t wait before telling everything to Yukhei, about how amazing Kun was, about how pretty his hands.. handwriting was (not an excuse for looking at his pretty hands at all !!!), about how he managed to be a tutor, a good student and be on the university’s soccer team !

They decided to meet every now and then, whenever they had some extra time and Mark drank Kun’s words. He didn’t question whatever he was saying, not even a bit. So when Kun started sending him more texts, and then more uni-unrelated texts, he didn’t question it and went along. He was actually pleased that such a nice guy as Kun was willing to spend time on him and was interested in getting to know Mark more.

And when Kun asked him on a date a few months after their tutoring sessions had begun, he didn’t question it either. Kun was so nice !! And Mark really enjoyed spending time with him. Although he wasn’t his ideal type body-wise, he would be lying if he didn’t see how handsome Kun was. So he said yes. And a few days later Kun was in front of Mark’s dorm, picking him up for their date to the planetarium. They looked at an exposition on Apollo 13 first, and then went to see a short movie about the universe’s climates. The movie was set up as a real planetarium experience, they were on horizontal seats with a globe above their head in the dark.

And Kun silently intertwined their hands.

After the date, Mark told Yukhei everything, he was all giddy and Yukhei was really happy for him. But after they finished talking and had said good night, after the light went off and both their phones were plugged in, Yukhei scoffed a bit and then asked Mark : Are you going to see him again ?

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ MARK MEETS KUNHANG ] [ GO ON A 2ND DATE ]**

**(chap.03) / (chap.06)**


	3. Mark meets Kunhang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G  
> TW ; cheating

Mark wanted to see Kun again, and apparently Kun wanted that too. So they kept seeing each other for a month, until Mark met Kunhang.  
  
Everything was nice, he was living in his little bubble of happiness and dates until he met Kunhang. At first, Mark hated Kunhang for telling him, but at the same time, deep down, he knew this was for the best.  
  
Kunhang attended the same university as them, and he was Kun’s little brother. They were apparently quite close, and lived in the same flat outside of the university because it was easier that way for them. Kunhang went to all Kun’s soccer games, and Kun in turn went to Kunhang’s recitals (he was in the university’s orchestra) and his lacrosse games. They were tight brothers. But Kunhang had a good moral compass, as he mentioned himself, and he couldn’t let Kun do this any longer. 

At first, Kunhang thought that it was alright, and that Mark was yet another frat boy that his brother got around his little finger. Except that he ended up meeting said Mark and it turned out that he was actually really nice, and a decent guy who seemed to actually like his brother. Kunhang decided then and there that he had to tell him :  
  
"My brother is playing with you. He is practically married to another guy, they’ve been together since middle school, he just likes to play with ‘new meat’..."  
  
Mark didn’t want to believe him at first, but he quickly started overthinking it and many things made way more sense now. Why Kun didn’t want to give Mark his instagram, or his twitter, or even his facebook page. Why Mark never came to his place for tutoring, why Kun acted like he didn’t know him whenever he was with friends. Why he always had an arm around another guy’s shoulder. Oh. The other guy, Taeil, must be his boyfriend.  
  
Mark felt really stupid. And Kunhang seemed to feel it too, and felt guilty about it. Guilty for not telling him sooner, but also guilty for giving him such bad news without sugarcoating it at all. So he offered a solution, probably a bad one, but one that had showed results in the past.  
  
"Let’s go for a drive, yeah ? "  
  
Mark looked at him like he came out of a horror movie or something. What do you mean, let’s go for a drive ? You want us to do a road trip together ? I don’t know you ? You don’t know me ? You’re the brother of an evil being ???? But Kunhang seemed sweet. And not in the same way his brother did : he wasn’t fake sweet. He did tell him the truth even though he had no obligation to do so. And a drive would be good to change his mind. He needed a distraction, he needed to get out of the campus grounds, so he said yes.  
  
Mark took his coat and a bag filled with lots of useful things, starting with a water bottle and some snacks, a powerbank, pills… he was always prepared. “just in case” was his life motto and should probably be his epitaph.  
  
About an hour later they were both in Kunhang’s car driving some place they didn’t know about. They didnt follow google maps or any indication except for a die. Whenever they were at an intersection they rolled a die and it decided where they were supposed to head off to.  
  
They got out of Seoul without even noticing, too busy talking, laughing, singing old hits.  
  
At some point, they were so far away from Seoul that the road was forming into a literal desert,and Mark felt like he was near Korea’s own Area 51. At least it looked like what the movies pictured of the Area 51. They had been driving for hours and Kunhang started to get tired, and the boys wondered : should they stop on this desert road and go into this cute vintage antique shop ? or should they keep driving for a bit ?  
  


**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ KEEP DRIVING ] [ GO TO THE SHOP]**

**(chap.04) / (chap.07)**


	4. Keep driving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; T  
> TW; major character death

In the end, they decided not to stop by this vintage shop, it looked cute but they saw weird things on the shopping windows and thought that they could keep driving for a little bit more until they found another place to rest.   
  
So that’s what they did, they kept driving for about another hour, but they seemed to go deeper and deeper into the desert with nothing around them at all, and Hendery was getting more and more tired. Mark offered to drive : he didn’t have a driving licence but he used to drive with his dad all the time.   
  
Yet Kunhang didn’t let him, saying he could take the tiredness and he was not going to let someone without a driving licence take the wheel. So he kept driving.   
  
More and more.   
  
Further and further into the deserted place.   
  
The road went by a lake and they started feeling relief because a lake meant people living near said lake, but there was still nobody, no houses, no stores, nothing. Just water, and the road, and water, and Kunhang’s tiredness, his hands gripping a little too tightly on the wheel, his eyes blinking a little too much, the road was never ending, the water was still there, there was kunhang’s tiredness, his eyes closing a bit, dozing off, the water was still there, submerging the car while Mark was screaming and Kunhang realised what he just did. 

Then water.   
  
No more road.   
  
No more screaming.   
  


**GAME OVER**

  
  
PLAYER  
>ONE  
  
STATISTICS ROAD  
>01  
  
MARK LEE STATUS  
>DEAD (accident)]  
  
DREAM COMPLETION STATUS BEFORE DEATH  
>50% pending]  
  
RELATIONSHIP STATUS BEFORE DEATH  
> 2 friends (Wong Yuk Hei, Wong Kun Hang)  
  
[HAPPINESS % BEFORE DEATH - starting with 50%  
>university +2%  
>two friends +10%  
>was played with -3%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 59%** ]


	5. Join a club

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; 6

Mark thought about it for months, but with the help of his parents and his roomate, he came to the conclusion that he was studying enough, and smart enough to get the material without a tutor, and that having a extracurricular activity would be good for morale and that creating bonds was essential to college life. Even if it was a club of nerds.

So he joined the quiz team, and met wonderful people. The first person he met was Doyoung, the club leader and a senior, he won the state championship three years in a row in high school, and went to the finale every year in college, so Mark concluded that he must know what he’s doing.

During the first club meeting, Mark was a little shy and didn’t mingle, he knew they would form teams soon enough and really counted on it to befriend people. Until then, he stayed there, showed what he was capable of and waited to be back in the dorm to socialize with Yukhei.

During the third club meeting, Doyoung made the teams. They were both based on level so that nobody in a team would be stronger and be bored, or be weaker and feel useless, and based on special strength, it was useless to have two maths specialists in the same team.

Mark ended up in a good team, he knew it because there was Jeno in it, and Jeno was the only 1st year who caught his eyes because he was just really good. Mark’s speciality was history, of course, and was also good at geography. Jeno was good in everything related to science; biology, physics, astrophysics etc. The other ones on the team were Donghyuck, whose specialty was, weirdly enough, maths and famous people, and Dejun, a literature specialist, especially fond of every type of mythology.

The four of them decided to hang out outside of the club activities to bond, and work on their team dynamic by eating pancakes after classes. They made a twitter group chat and sent pictures of them crying, or with disgusting faces as proof of their trust in each other.

Everytime he went home, he narrated everything to Yukhei who quickly became his best friend. They were quite different in personality, Yukhei being really outgoing and caring, while Mark needed more time to be comfortable with someone. But they were both good friends who supported each other; Mark went to every one of Yukhei’s lacrosse games, and Yukhei went to Mark’s quiz games too. Whenever they had practice at the same time, they waited for the other to go back home together.

Yukhei is caring, but also really attentive.

Mark won the last qualification game with his team, meaning the next one would be part of the actual championship and it wasn’t a fools game anymore ; he needed to win. This made him feel really anxious and Yukhei noticed it, so he quizzed him randomly to prove to him he was ready.

And the day before Mark’s first big game, he offered him a present. Mark wondered what was inside but Yukhei made him promise he would only open it before being in the lockers— if they had any for quiz games ? he didn’t really know.

Once in the changing room, Mark opened the box. There was a jar inside, full of green. He took it out of the box and looked at it closer : a jar full of clovers.

There was a note in the box, from Yukhei “I couldn’t find lots of four leaves clovers so they’re mostly basic clovers but there are a few four leaves too! Trust in their power dude!”  
The three leaves clover must have worked too, because Mark and his team won the first game, and the next one. They went on to win all the games of that day, and then all the games the following week-end, and the following, until they went to the finale.

Doyoung was really proud of them, and bought them matching ties with a promise for beef after.

Yukhei came this time, he couldn’t for the others because they were far from their university, but this one was a really big game so he came. When the team settled in and sat behind their buzzer, Mark looked up and easily found his giant best friend in the crowd, with a bright smile and two thumbs up.

A moment later, Mark was a champion, his team was crying and cheering, the crowd was standing and Doyoung was screaming “that’s my boys!!”, Yukhei was excited and jumping on his spot, and Mark didn’t know if he should stay with this team in the changing room to ride their joy, or go see Yukhei, his best friend and share this moment with him.

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ GO SEE YUKHEI ] [ STAY WITH HIS TEAM ]**

**(chap.08) / (chap.09)**


	6. Go on a 2nd date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

When Yukhei asked him if Mark wanted to see Kun again, the young man nodded shyly, his cheeks red from blushing. He knew it wasn’t love yet, but it felt nice and he never really got anyone interested in him that way. Kun was a nice guy and he likes spending time with him.

That’s why he said yes to going out with Kun on a second date a week after, and a few days later after their tutoring session, and the week after, and many others. Each date was fun and very centered around Mark. Kun seemed to know every spot in town that Mark might like (spoiler : he loved all those places). They went to an open movie night, to a cosy tea shop with lots of books one could borrow while drinking, and even to a master degree lecture on South Africa’s history, which was mind blowing to Mark. He didn’t believe Kun knew him that well, and that he even thought about such a date ! For anyone else it would have been lame, but it was perfect for Mark.

Mark knew that even after all those dates and time spent together, he still wasn’t in love with Kun. He didn’t know if it’ll come one day or not, but what he knew is that he liked that Kun liked him. He liked to feel wanted, to get affection and attention. It was so new to him and felt so good.

That’s why a few days after the lecture date, Mark tried to be the bravest he could be and asked Kun on a date this time, he took him to the regular cinema. He wanted him to know that they didn’t have to do really special things in order for him to have fun and enjoy the date; They didn’t have to do everything according to his own tastes.

Kun walked Mark back to his dorm, kissed him good night and left a blushing Mark there. Mark was still blushing when he got to his dorm room and avoided Yukhei’s question to grab his phone and send a risky text. He wanted Kun to keep liking him, he wanted to keep going on dates with him, he wanted kisses and cuddles, so he asked Kun to be his boyfriend.

**  
NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ KUN SAYS YES ] [ KUN SAYS NO ]**

**(chap.10) / (chap.11)**


	7. Go to the shop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Safety always came first to Mark’s mind (except for when he got dragged along by Yukhei into whatever little adventure he had thought about— in these times, Mark didn’t care about safety as much because he was on an adrenaline rush from having a best friend).

So they decided to stop, the shop seemed nice and they both liked these kinds of things. Kunhang hoped he would find old classical music records, maybe even some old partitions of obscure songs, he was already giddy thinking about it when he parked in front of the entrance ; nobody was in a thousand miles radius anyway.

Mark grabbed his bag and Kunhang grabbed his new friend’s arm as they entered the antique shop. The shop was filled with many things, dust was amongst those things and although it was one of the main themes, it wasn’t the only one : there were lots of dolls, and lots of records.

Kunhang was gravitating near the records and music sheet, trying to find one he didn’t have. He was waiting for the spark, the fire that heats up his guts whenever he sees a partition and he feels like he has to play it. In the meantime, Mark was roaming around, he spotted a few maps that looked really old, some still had the british colonies written, another one had been made during the second world war and the pacific quite didn’t look like it was now. It was so, so interesting, but his stomach started to growl, and he could see Kunhang still looking tired from where he was.

Should he keep roaming around in hope to find great historical books and give some time for Kunhang to find The Spark ? Or should he ask Kunhang to leave, eat a cereal bar and take a nap before looking for a proper place to eat ?

**  
NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ KEEP ROAMING AROUND ] [ GO HOME ]**

**(chap.12) / (chap.13)  
**


	8. Go see Yukhei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Mark saw Yukhei’s big eyes, gleaming from the crowd and decided the person he wanted to share this moment the most was his roommate and now best friend. However, he couldn’t abandon his team and kept cheering with them, chanting that they were winners, with Doyoung hugging all four of them as best as he could while Dejun held the trophy in the air (to be honest Mark wasn’t sure if he did that just because he was happy, a champion’s gesture, or if it was to rub in the other teams who the winners are).

When the ceremony ended, they all went back to their locker room—not quite the athlete type but they changed there and Doyoung gave them a prep talk in here before the big finale. Mark took the trophy in his hands for a few seconds, then took a picture with it and grabbed his things quickly without even changing, hasting to go see Yukhei. Stepping out of the locker room, he threw in a ‘good job guys, see you !’ but didn’t hear any replies. Actually, he hasn’t heard anything from them since they won, too focused on the trophy and his best friend.

Finally, he gets out of the building and sees him waiting for him, which makes him smile like an idiot and catches up running toward him, screaming “Yukhei !! We won !!”

Yukhei screamed back “I saw!! You won!!” with the same giant ass smile on his face, spreading his arms, prepared to hug Mark— which he did a few seconds later, hugging him tight and making him spin as if he was weighting nothing at all.

Mark had never been a hugger, nor a huggee, and wasn’t the most used at receiving compliments (aside from his parents), so hearing Yukhei congratulate him the way he did, with lots of praises and admiration made him feel all giddy and his cheeks turned crimson.

“ How did you know all the answers ? God you’re so smart dude.”

All this, while being tightly hugged, didn’t mix well in his weak heart and it made him turn crimson, from head to toes. Mark hid his head in Yukhei’s shoulder, not wanting him to see him blushing.

The blushing didn’t last long, and Yukhei eventually let go of him when Doyoung and The Boys arrived, asking Mark to go out to dinner with them as a congratulation gift from Doyoung.

When he went back to his dorm after the really good and really nutritious meal, Mark tried to be as quiet as possible not to wake Yukhei up and slip into his bed, still all giddy and excited from the win, and maybe a bit from the hug as well.

Thinking about it, Mark starts doubting his feelings and judgement. Would it be possible that he began to have a crush on his best friend ? Or is it just his weakness for beefy boys acting up ? Was he blushing because he wasn’t used to all of it, or because it was him ?

The thing is, Yukhei is the best friend Mark has ever had, and he really likes their relationship as it is, and doesn’t want to risk anything.

So should he keep being in denial ? Or should he acknowledge he has a crush and try to move on ?

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ STAY IN DENIAL ] [ ACKNOWLEDGE IT ]**

**(chap.14) / (chap.15)**


	9. Stay with his team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Mark was going to the public so he could hug Yukhei, and let him congratulate him and the team, but the boys were going to the changing room with Doyoung and he couldn’t let them go without him. He waved at Yukhei with a big smile and followed his team.

Once there, he changed clothes - leaving the dull white shirt and tie for a more comfortable and fitted hoodie - and then left the room, ready to go find his best friend. He did not forget the barbecue afterwards, but Yukhei did come all the way here to see him win, so he should spend some time with him.

However, he barely made a step out of the room that his wrist got grabbed by someone. It has to be a teammate, for obvious reasons, but he didn’t know which one before turning on his heels to see him.

Jeno was before him, on the threshold and looked a bit shy, unsure of what he was about to say. No doubt the boy was chanting comforting and motivating words in his head.  
“Can we talk a bit before the barbecue ? I have something I want to tell you.”

Mark nodded, of course they could talk.

“Not.. right here though. Let’s go somewhere quiet. “ Jeno said, his ears turning red as he kept Mark’s wrist in his hand and took him to another room near-by. There, he finally let go of him and Mark took one step back, seeking for his personal space.

“What did you want to tell me, Jeno ?”

“A few weeks ago, I’ve.. decided, with myself, that depending on our team result I would tell you a secret or not. Well, not really tell you a secret it’s more like.. ask you something, and be brave about it. So.. “ He breathed in, breathed out, repositioned himself on his feet, tried to stand tall and not look as scared as how he really was. “I really like you, and I was wondering if you’d go out with me someday ? like a date ?”

Mark was left there, jaw hanging as he wasn’t ready to hear anything like this. He never thought Jeno, sweet, beautiful, smart Jeno would ever want to be with him. It never crossed his mind that he could envision it, and therefore never really indulge in his feelings for him.

“I don’t know.. I mean. I would love to, but I don’t know if I like you. I.. god this is so new to me. I never thought you’d be interested ? So I never like, sat and thought about what I could potentially feel for you ? So like, I don’t -”

“Hey, it’s okay. “ Jeno stopped Mark’s rambling. “I get that, don’t worry. I never thought you’d say yes either.” He chuckled, feeling less shy and intimidated now that he didn’t get rejected. “We can go on one date and see how you feel after ? If you need more time to figure your feelings out we can go on more than one date, I don’t mind if it means spending more time with you.”

Mark hated himself for giving Jeno this much power. The boy got cocky real quick. And all Mark could do was nod shyly.

He still had to go see Yukhei before they get to the barbecue with Doyoung, so they left the room and Jeno went back to their team-mates, Mark went to Yukhei outside the building and hugged him tightly, using his comforting and familiar scent to let his heart calm down and sort out his thoughts. He didn’t have time to properly explain everything but he got to tell him the important parts and Yukhei high-fived him with an excited, “Look at you, lover boy!”

Then the team came out and they went to the barbecue, they ate a lot and Mark - who was worried the mood would be weird with Jeno - finally got to relax a bit.  
Their first date took a few days before happening. They came back to their university, and had to go back to classes as well. Jeno had sent Mark a text, asking him when he’d be free and they found a day but it wasn’t before a week later.

For the whole week, Mark waited expectantly, he wanted this date, he couldn’t stop thinking about him, about the way he smiles with his eyes, how he always complimented him during practice, how he always took extra chocolate sauce with his pancake to let Mark dip in.

When it was finally D-Day, Mark was jumping everywhere in his room. So much that Yukhei kept laughing at him. He helped him get ready, both physically - clothing, hair - and mentally -prep-talk, hyping him, giving him conversation starters just in case.

Then, when it was almost time, Mark left his dorm, walked a few meters and knocked on Jeno’s door.

He felt silly, having dressed up to stay in the same dormitory, but Jeno opened his door in a suit. Literally, in a suit. And Mark was happy he didn’t stay in comfy clothes. Jeno’s room was nice, he arranged it to have food and drinks near his bed, many pillows, two separate plaids and a movie ready on his laptop.

That evening, their knees brushed too many times to count while watching Your Name, they said some lines to each other as well, laughed a lot, cried a lot, ended up sharing one blanket and sang a duet on ‘sparkle’.

At the end of their date, their hands were intertwined and Jeno was rubbing his thumb on Mark’s hand, a sign that he was there, and caring.

What is Yukhei's attitude toward Mark and Jeno dating?

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ YUKHEI IS JEALOUS ] [ YUKHEI IS SUPPORTIVE ]**

**(chap.16) / (chap.17)**


	10. Kun says yes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Kun never replied to texts in the evening, so Mark didn’t freak out too much when he didn’t get a reply to his question and went to bed thanks to aroma oils he had for special occasions (read : exams). And in the morning, the first thing he did after opening his eyes was to check on his phone :

From : Kun (1)  
His face lit up, he got excited for a minute before his face turned darker, his mind crossed with anxiety : what if it was a rejecting text ? what if Kun didn’t like him that much ? what if he wasn’t ready for a relationship ? what if he thought Mark was too young to be a good fit for him ?

Yukhei was already awake, studying literature which was actually his major, and saw how Mark was agonizing and decided to help him : he took his phone, then Mark’s thumb, and linked the two to open the former so Mark could read Kun’s text.

Kun’s answer was yes. Mark couldn’t believe his eyes and jumped into his best friend’s arms before thinking about anything else, he got himself a boyfriend !!!!

Dating Kun was nice, though Mark had to get used to the non existing texts after 6pm and the rule about not sharing their friends because Kun wanted to keep pieces of his life separate, he wanted to be able to enjoy each part fully and freely. When he was with Mark, he wanted to be fully dedicated to him, and when he was with his friend he wanted to fully enjoy their company. He also liked to have alone time, and not be with the same people all the time.

So, once he got used to that, dating Kun became pretty chill.

They’ve been dating for exactly a month when Kun managed to sneak into the dormitory to bring Mark a flower and a kiss, it was past 6pm but they spent the evening together and Mark was really happy about it. They kissed again when Kun left and Mark contemplated sleeping with the flower before remembering these had thorns.

Since then, giving Mark flowers had become a habit of Kun’s. He would offer him of any species at any given moment, whenever he felt like it, whenever Mark got a really good grade, whenever they walked by a flower shop together. And he would offer him a rose for meaningful dates, for their 2nd month together, and then 3rd etc up until their 6th, and even their one year anniversary.

But Mark still doesn’t feel love. And Yukhei is becoming each day a bit more persistent in making him break up with Kun (on the basis that Mark isn’t in love with Kun and that it’s unfair to Kun.)

Should Mark break up with Kun ?

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ STAY WITH HIM ] [ BREAK UP ]**

**(chap.18) / (chap.19)**


	11. Kun says no

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; T  
> TW ; light violence, swearing

Mark had trouble sleeping that night, not knowing what would be Kun’s answer, but he tried his best to fall asleep, telling himself that he would get the answer quicker if he slept. What he didn’t plan was Kun not replying for days.

A week after his risky question, Mark was on his bed, his phone in his hand and his eyes staring at it blankly. He didn’t seem to have any soul left, as if he sent it away along with his text. When Yukhei came back from his lecture, he found Mark still staring at his phone, like the day before, and the day before that, and it bothered him not to be able to help his best friend. He tried to talk to him but Mark wouldn’t answer, wouldn’t even acknowledge his presence other than a slight nod and a ‘hey’ that didn’t even sound like himself.  
Yukhei had enough of this and decided to go confront Kun the next day, he would find Kunhang - who also was in the Lacrosse team - and would ask him where he could find his brother. And then he’d go fight him if needed.

The fighting was very much needed.

Yukhei asked Kunhang things about his brother during the morning practice, and although the other lacrosse player didn’t want to sell his brother out at first— because he was, well, his brother— he still ended up doing the right thing and told Yukhei the truth about Kun, about how he is actually in a committed relationship, and has been for a while, about how his boyfriend basically lives with them and about how Kun talks about Mark to his brother whenever his boyfriend isn’t here, and it isn’t always flattering.

The first thing Yukhei did wasn’t necessarily the best course of action, but he went to Kun’s first class to beat him up— which he did, and pretty badly too. The second thing he did was make Kun promise he would break things up properly with Mark because he deserved at least that much. The third thing he did was to go home to see Mark, which he should have done at first but we’ve all got flaws.

He then decided to just be there for Mark, waiting for Kun to do the right thing. Until then, they both went to class, listening more or less, taking more or less notes. And finally, at the end of the day, Mark got the text Kun should have sent a week ago.

From : Kun  
→ Hello Mark, as you probably understood from my lack of reply, I do not wish to be in a committed relationship with you, nor to pursue dating you at all. I should have told you earlier, and I’m sorry I didn’t, I have no excuse at all. I wish for you to move on quickly and find someone who can love you the way I couldn’t.

“The fuck.” was Mark’s first reaction. He threw his phone toward Yukhei who luckily caught it mid-air. After reading the text, both of them were completely dumbfounded, but for different reasons. Mark because the text was pompous for no reason and wasn’t saying shit. Yukhei because Kun was a motherfucking piece of shit, there was no other way to put it.

“Mark... I know why he doesn’t love you. Would you rather know ? or not ?”

“Of course I wanna know !” said Mark, so Yukhei explained what Kunhang told him about Kun dating Taeil, but he silenced the part about Kun bad mouthing him.

Mark doesn’t know how to take the news. There is no right way to take it, of course, but he doesn’t know if he wants to break things, cry, scream, or go shoot a motherfucker called Kun with the gun he doesn’t have.

Should he go for a walk to calm down ? Or stay home to bitch about Kun with Yukhei ?

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ GO FOR A WALK ] [ STAY AT HOME ]**

**(chap.20) / (chap.21)**


	12. Keep roaming around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Kunhang didn’t look that tired, and Mark could eat his cereal bar in the shop if he asked the young guy at the counter (which he ended up doing, and the guy agreed), so he decided on testing his luck, they’ll rest later.

Mark kept looking around, he found a box of old postcards and photographs and started taking each of them in his hand, one by one, inspecting them. These were gems, really, it was so fascinating to see through the past. He found this kind of fun by reading the postcards and really got immersed into it, so much so that he didn’t hear Kunhang rush toward him and when he felt a hand on his shoulder— he got scared and jumped, pushing the box of postcards off the table while his elbow bumping into a vase. The vase fell onto the ground, shattered.

The man at the counter heard the noise and promptly rushed over. Kunhang and Mark kept apologising again and again about it, they were truly sorry. The worker said it was alright but that they’d have to pay for it, which they agreed to : it was only fair to pay for something that they had broken.

Except that it happened to be a six hundred years old Ming vase, worth 2.2 million won. None of them could afford that much, but they didn’t have a choice so Mark used his student loan to pay for it right away, and he made Kunhang sign a paper stating that he owed Mark 1,6 million won. They were friends but no friendship could prevent him from making a 1,6 million won contract.

They went back to the car (which Kunhang was going to sell soon after) and started crying, both of them. They made a pact right there, that even if their lives were ruined they will keep being friends and having each other’s back.

The ride back home was rather quiet, Mark started to plan conversations with his parents about why he would have to drop university and work in a convenience store to pay off his student debt.

A few days later, Mark was packing his things after he had dropped out and said goodbye to Yukhei. Kunhang was waiting for him outside of the building and helped him carry his bags as they walked out of the campus, probably for the last time.

Mark turned around to take one final glance at his dream.

**GAME OVER**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>02

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>0%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Kun Hang)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> lost one friendship -6%  
> best friend +15%  
> dropped out -25%  
> been played with -3%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 31%** ]


	13. Go home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G  
> TW; swearing

As Mark was trying to decide, he stumbled upon a weird area in the shop, one full of clown dolls. None of them seemed normal or innocent, although he didn’t think any doll looking like a clown could look normal anyway. But seeing these weird faces staring at him, and seeing so many of them scared him.

The choice was easy.

He went back to Kunhang and told him that they should leave because he was really hungry, and they should find a place to eat and take a quick power nap before going back home eventually. Of course he didn’t mention him being scared (Kunhang heard him scream earlier and knew about it but decided not to say anything).

They said goodbye to the cashier and went back to Kunhang’s car and, after looking at google maps, they decided that going directly on their way back was easier and that it would take less time to get food at the last restaurant they saw than going to the next one which was way too far.

Their adventure went well, and they kept talking during the trip back home. Partly because they couldn’t shut up, too immersed into their discussion, partly because Mark was trying to keep Kunhang awake and alert.

In the end, they got a nice meal, nice stories, got to get home in one piece and make a new really good friend; Mark hoped their friendship would last for years and years. Centuries even. He really felt a connection with Kunhang.

When they parted way, Mark went back to his dorm room and didn’t wait a second before telling Yukhei everything about his day, from Kun being a gigantic asshole to Kunhang being so nice and sweet, to the clown dolls that scared the shit out of him, to their road trip that was so so nice and maybe he would like to kiss Kunhang’s cheeks or something.

And when he went to bed that night, he wondered if he should ask Kunhang on a date, or just stay as friends.

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ STAY FRIENDS ] [ ASK HIM OUT ]**

**(chap.22) / (chap.23)**


	14. Stay in denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Mark and Yukhei started getting closer ; they hugged more often, talked with their heart more often. Yukhei told Mark why he had chosen to study literature, he told him about his dad always reading bedtime stories to him, about how he always picked books that were above his age level and instead of letting him settle with things he already understood, he always made him strive for more. With him, Yukhei learned many words, many concepts, he got to know about a lot of world issues way before his classmates and if he is the caring person that he is now, it is thanks to these books that his father used to read to him. Yukhei ended up crying telling all of it to Mark, because he is so proud to be his father’s son, and he misses him a lot.

Mark didn’t have any heartfelt stories to tell Yukhei, but he tried to show him that he trusted him and cared for him, he told him whenever he felt vulnerable and could use a friend instead of bottling things up, he made sure to listen to him, to give him his full attention.

The both of them worked well as friends, when one of them was upset, he would come to the other’s bed to get some warmth and company, and they would cuddle until they fell asleep.

They also got way more domestic. Mark noticed that his bottle of shampoo was emptier than it was supposed to be and at first he thought that maybe he used more lately, so he became careful with the doses, and it still got emptier and emptier at a quick rate. He decided to confront the only possible suspect : Yukhei.

“ Your hair smells nice dude, I want mine to smell nice too, is it a crime ?”

It was certainly not a crime, and Mark couldn’t really say anything about boundaries and ownership because he was guilty of that as well ; Yukhei hadn’t noticed yet but it wasn’t a gremlin who took his big sweaters.

Should Mark confess about the sweater ?

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ DON'T TELL HIM ] [ TELL HIM ]**

**(chap.24) / (chap.25)**


	15. Acknowledge it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Mark thought about it for days, debated with himself, made lots and lots of lists, looked online for clues - and even did some quizzes (some were broad “do you have a crush? let’s find out!”, some were oddly specific “is your heart beating faster when you’re with your roommate, a sign that you’re in love ? take this quiz!”). The conclusion he got was that yes, he has a crush on Yukhei. Which, once acknowledged, isn’t as bad as he initially thought! Mark kept hearing people say in movies how bad it is to fall for your best friend, or your roommate, and that it’s gonna be a disaster, but it isn’t that awful ? Sure it’d be best to stay friends so they never grow apart because of jealousy, or couple fights. But the fact that he knows from the start that his crushing is doomed is the best part ; he can’t get over it quickly.

And it is exactly what he did.

It took him a few more days but knowing he doesn’t stand a chance against Yukhei’s much prettier friends helped a lot, and now he feels lighter. He feels like their friendship is going well and it feels really good not to have to worry about his crush showing.

One of the thing that noticing Yukhei’s friends did, however, was make Mark notice how they were all really fit. Which made him believe he had put on some weight since the beginning of the year. He wasn’t really worried about his weight but he was still curious about it so he went to check, and he actually did put on weight.

Mark had noticed, after months of living together, that none of them could cook for shit and they’d always make cup noodles or things that can be put in a microwave or oven without actual cooking involved. Before going to college he never had to cook at home so he never thought about learning how to, and during the first few months of college he thought more about passing the first semester, the club, and being a good friend to Yukhei than eating healthy. That must be why I got fatter, he thought.

He didn’t care that much about his weight, but it made him think more about his eating habits and how much snacking he does, how little of actual meals he eats. He decided it was a good time to change this and learn how to cook.

That’s how he got caught up in more club activities during his second year.

Mark had thought that learning at home wasn’t the best (because his bed is literally right /there/) and finding a cooking class was the better option. What he didn’t take into account was that he was a college student, meaning he was broke most of the time, and classes cost money. The other possibility was to join a cooking club, this way he wouldn’t have to pay, would make more friends and learn from the members! This was perfect!

There were absolutely no holes in his plan, none! Except maybe the fact that they were all in a cooking club because they all know how to cook and they might think he’s a loser! Or the fact that the club president decided to assign him a really pretty underclassman as his personal tutor! Which was both humiliating and infuriating! Absolutely no holes in his plan, none at all, getting flustered while baking a cake is normal!

Should Mark get the tutor’s phone number so he can ask him questions whenever he tries cooking at the dorm ?

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ DON'T ASK FOR IT ] [ ASK FOR IT ]**

**(chap.26) / (chap.27)**


	16. Yukhei is jealous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G  
> TW; swearing

When Mark comes home from his date, Yukhei is already in his bed sleeping, so he cannot debrief with him and gush about his crush, which is really sad to him.

He cannot do anything but wait, though.

He won’t wake his best friend up just to talk about a boy, it’s not polite. (he really wants to though!)

The following day, when Mark wakes up, his best friend isn’t in his bed anymore and the latter was made neatly, which was weird. But Mark didn’t think much of it, Yukhei probably had an early practice he forgot about, or woke up early and got hungry, decided to study or anything really. Sometimes he even went on morning runs so, really, there was nothing to worry about.

However, when Mark came home that evening and Yukhei didn’t come home at all, Mark started to think this was odd. Of course Yukhei could eat outside, spend time with his team or other friends, get laid or whatever he does, but he would always text him to let him know that he isn’t coming home. But Mark waited all night, and didn’t hear from him.  
The next morning Mark tried texting him again, but still no texting back.

During lunch time he saw him with his teammates and decided to go see him and ask if something had happened, if he was alright. If they were alright.

But as soon as Mark went toward them, and Yukhei saw him from the corner of his eye, the little group moved and left.

He was dumbfounded. DId Yukhei not see him ? Did he not want to talk to him ? Was he avoiding him ?

Mark started to feel uneasy about it, he felt his best friend drifting apart from him and it made him sick. So he talked to the only person (except Yukhei) who could appease him: Jeno.

Talking with Jeno was nice, it felt comforting, reassuring and he was the kind of person to find a million reasons why Yukhei would avoid him rather than him straight up avoiding him. ”Maybe there was a bee!”

At the end of the day, Yukhei would have to come home eventually. So Mark decided to wait. And when two days later Yukhei finally came home, Mark was ready to confront him.  
“Why the fuck are you avoiding me Wong Yukhei ?”

Yukhei looked sheepish, as if he knew what he did was mean but didn't want to be grounded. “I wasn’t.. “

“Oh shut up. I’m pissed I won’t take your idiocy. If I did something wrong then tell me! If I didn’t do anything wrong then what the fuck?!” Mark was working really hard on himself not to yell.

“It’s silly. It really is. You didn’t do anything wrong it’s just.. “ Yukhei didn’t know how to word his thoughts and feelings, how to tell Mark without him actually knowing what was going on because he didn’t want to lose his best friend either. He went to sit on his bed and continue explaining, his gaze fixed on his feet. “ I was jealous of Jeno. I know I helped you and gave you advice but I didn’t notice at the time! It’s when you were at that date, not answering my text for obvious reasons that I started feeling weird. Angry, even. And I imagined you two kissing and I was just so, so mad, Mark. I didn’t want to put my feelings onto you and lose our friendship because I would have said mean stuff or something so I just.. thought it’d be better not to see you for a while ? So like, you wouldn’t guess that I’m feeling that way about you.. and it let me time to actually figure out what I was.. what I am, feeling. “

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ FORGIVE HIM ] [ STAY MAD AT HIM ]**

**(chap.28) / (chap.29)**


	17. Yukhei is supportive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Weeks went by and with them more dates with Jeno. Mark was the happiest he’s ever been - at least that’s what Yukhei told him one night when they were talking until they fell asleep.

Yukhei really was the best friend Mark could have asked for, always there for him, always understanding and helpful. Always there to let Mark gush about his potential boyfriend and give him advice.

Mark was just as equally there for him as well, there for him when he came back from parties shitfaced, there for him when he wanted to gush about cute people from his classes, there to listen to his lacrosse rants and cheer him on, and /not/ there when he wanted to bring dates home.

Since Mark had started dating Jeno, Yukhei went on more and more dates with random people. Mark believed it was because seeing him with someone made him want to find the right person as well. Maybe he just didn’t want to face the truth; Yukhei took a liking for him and tried to find a distraction.

But Mark didn’t see it that way at all, always thought about Yukhei as a friend and really liked Jeno.

Jeno who was nice, caring and funny, but also smart and had a charismatic aura that made Mark unable to take his eyes off him. And Jeno was fond of Mark too, he had told him so multiple times. Mark suspected him to nearly drop the L word on several occasions but never brought it up, he didn’t want to make him feel embarrassed or rush him.

They had all the time in the world.

All the time in the world to know each other even better, to hold hands in every place. All the time in the world for Jeno to kiss Mark’s forehead goodnight, to send him cute texts randomly. All the time in the world for Mark to look up weird science facts to impress and entertain Jeno, to show up unexpectedly at Jeno’s door.

Mark never thought he’d be the kind of guy to be gross in love, but here he was. And they weren’t even officially boyfriends. Mark thought about asking him a dozen of times, but didn’t know if it was what Jeno wanted, and in the end he chickened out.

One day, Yukhei went home and sat on Mark’s bed, meaning he had things to say.

“Dude, I can’t believe I got a boyfriend before you.”

“I’m sorry what? who?” Mark felt dumb for not even knowing his best friend was interested in someone enough to date them.

“Jaemin”

They both smiled widely. Yukhei because he was happy to be in a relationship and to talk about it, Mark because he was happy to see him happy. He basked in his best friend’s happiness and they talked about Jaemin for hours.

When Yukhei fell asleep, Mark was left alone with his thoughts. before you, he had said, and Mark couldn't stop thinking about it. Was he teasing him? Was he saying he was taking his sweet time? Was he saying he should have asked Jeno to be his boyfriend earlier? Was he telling him to hurry the fuck up? Probably all four.

The next day, Mark was running on lack of sleep and caffeine, and decided enough was enough and he didn’t want to go on a date with Jeno anymore, he wanted to go on dates with his boyfriend, hence why he planned to ask him tonight.

To; Jen  
> Let’s go out tonight!!!

From; Jen  
> I have too much homework. I’m sorry,,, tomorrow I promise, baby!

Mark was sad that his plans got disturbed but he understood, it was normal, homework was important.

However, once he had something in mind it was hard for him not to do it. That’s why he found himself unexpectedly knocking on Jeno’s door at 10pm, cupcakes in one hand, a bottle of Jeno’s favourite limonade on the other.

“Jeno! It’s me, it’s break time!”

Jeno wasn’t answering. Mark assumed it was because he was listening to classical music while working again and tried to open the door - it was unlocked.

He looked inside and dropped everything on the floor.

Jeno was clearly not at his desk.

He was clearly not doing homeworks.

And most importantly, he wasn’t looking like usual - he was on his bed, eyes glowing yellow and fangs out, oh damn he had fangs. His face and hands were hairier too. Mark didn’t understand.

“I.. what is going on Jen?”

Jeno felt relieved that his almost-boyfriend called him by his nickname, even after seeing him like that.

He tried to explain who he was (a werewolf), why he didn’t want him to come tonight (it’s a full moon and wasn’t sure he could control himself), why he didn’t tell him (scared of his reaction).

“You won’t hurt me right? You’re still Jeno, even like this?” It wasn’t said in the most delicate way, but nothing about the situation was delicate.

Jeno nodded, and Mark took the lemonade bottle and went to sit on his bed. Jeno struggled a bit to drink with his fangs but managed to in the end, and Mark even laughed a bit at him, the awkwardness and shock disappearing.

Should Mark ask Jeno to be his boyfriend ?

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ ASK TO BE BOYFRIENDS ] [ DON'T ASK ]**

**(chap.30) / (chap.31)**


	18. Stay with him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; T  
> TW ; cheating, swearing, mentionned sexual content, murder attempt

Mark decides that he feels good with Kun and that it is enough, also, Kun never actually said “i love you” to him either so maybe they were both not in love and just enjoyed being boyfriends. So he told Yukhei to stop pestering him about that and mind his own damn business.

Mark and Kun had been dating for a little bit over a year now, and Mark wanted him to meet his friends, at least Yukhei. But Kun was still keen on the ‘no mixing friend groups’ rule, so this was not going to happen anytime soon.

However, this started to become ridiculous to Yukhei, and he decided to investigate. He didn’t have bad intentions, and didn’t want to overstep his role as a best friend, but Kun not wanting Mark to meet his friends was definitely shady and Yukhei was afraid that he might be in a gang or something.

So one time, when Mark told him that Kun had cancelled their date, Yukhei went out, pretending to go buy a book, and went to Kun’s lecture. He knew about it because Mark had told him their initial date plan : Mark was supposed to meet Kun right after his lecture, and go to the aquarium together. Therefore, Yukhei knew which lecture Kun had, and which building it would probably be in.

He was right, and after waiting for about ten minutes, he saw Kun leave the building. Yukhei turned into an FBI agent for the afternoon and followed Kun everywhere, being as undetectable as possible.

This was successful, when Yukhei got information, even if it wasn’t what he thought it’d be, it was still pretty shocking : Kun was cheating on Mark, which actually made a lot of sense. Kun couldn’t mix their friend groups or he’d get caught, and he was probably not texting Mark after 6PM because he was with his other lover. Oh boy, that was messy.  
Yukhei didn’t know how to say it to Mark and decided not to tell him right away, not because he wanted to hide him the truth but because he was trying to find the best way not to break Mark’s heart too much.

The issue was that, while Yukhei waited, someone else learned about it. And that someone was really pissed.

Taeil had been dating Kun for years, nearly a decade, and they were basically married. He knew about Kun being an asshole, and about him liking to use new meat and date them, but it always had been about him sticking his dick in a hole and then ditching the freshman. He never made it last a long time, so Taeil was angry.

But he couldn’t be angry at Kun, he allowed his cheating up till now so he couldn’t unallow them suddenly; and most importantly, he loved him too much to be angry at him. It was an emotion he couldn’t feel toward the love of his life.

So he got angry at Mark Lee instead.  
And he decided to poison him.

If Yukhei had told Mark before, maybe he could have avoided Taeil, maybe he would have said no when the upperclassman offered him a drink at a party. But Yukhei hadn’t told him yet, so Mark didn’t know that he should be wary of Taeil.

Mark drank the drink giddily.

It was slow poisoning, so it didn’t have any effect right away, it only started when he got home and was alone with Yukhei.

Yukhei panicked, of course.

But then he tried to think it through, to find a solution to save his best friend, and he remembered his friend from the Lacrosse team, Felix, knew stuff about plants and most importantly, he knew weird people. So he called him, and Felix told him about this dude, Renjun, who could apparently help him. At that point, Yukhei didn’t know that Mark had been poisoned, he only knew he was having weird symptoms but he thought maybe it was a kind of drug and he didn’t want to bring him to the hospital unless it was necessary.  
Renjun arrived quickly, all dressed in black and purple and didn’t bother to say hello, he’d rather spend all his time helping Mark. Which he did.

“He has been poisoned.“

////

Renjun was a x-men, or from the future, or from another planet. These were the only three logical explanations Mark could come up with regarding his new friend who saved his life.

Of course he talked about it with Yukhei, but he kept brushing it off as if he knew, as if Yukhei had knowledge that Mark hadn’t, as if Renjun had an actual secret and Yukhei knew about it. This made Mark ask his best friend even more questions, some of them were subtle, weren’t even mentioning Renjun directly, but most of them were really blunt.

But Yukhei never told him the secret.

Mark hung out with Renjun more and more, at first it was half because he wanted to know what he was, and half because he saved his life and seemed fun and couldn’t say no when the younger asked to hang out - Yukhei told Mark he asked him out, not to bro hang, but Mark didn’t believe it. Now, it was purely because of them being friends. Mark enjoyed Renjun’s company and although he kept wondering how the fuck he saved him from deadly poison, he decided not to ask questions anymore.

It was almost three months after Mark almost died when Yukhei looked at the window and had a devilish smile before running to hide in the bathroom. A few minutes later, a dumbfounded Mark opened the door to their dorm room to a blushing Renjun. This was a rare sight, since Renjun was usually rather confident, and not prone to heat stroke, so Mark couldn’t think of any reason why his friend’s face is red (Yukhei would have smacked his head, but alas, he was in the bathroom).

“Hi.” started Renjun, trying to cover for his blushing face with a somewhat confident voice.

“Hey, did we plan something and I forgot ?”

Renjun chuckled, which was wonderful because Mark thought this was the best sound in the world. If you asked him he would probably say that Renjun cured him from poison with it. “ No, don’t worry.”

“then do you want to come in ?”

“No, thanks, I’m good, I’m not here to.. hang..”, his confident voice was no more, but his blush was still in the middle of his face, “I just want to ask you something, that I had been meaning to ask the first day to be honest, I mean I tried but you misunderstood and I’m a coward”, Mark started to make some noise, as if he was going to reply that Renjun was not such a thing, but Renjun cut him off “No, I was, let me finish or I’ll be a coward again. Are you free sometime, to go out with me ?”, he looked up at Mark expectantly “Not to hang out, but to go out, together..?”

Mark’s face suddenly lit up, he finally understood the underlying meaning behind Renjun’s first question, and the one he asked him after saving him.

“Yukhei was right then. I’m sorry I’m dumb. Yes, whenever, I’d love to.”

And this is how Renjun asked Mark out, the first step toward them going to see the fireworks for the New Year, toward them holding hands and kissing on their second date, toward them going on many more dates and calling each other boyfriends.

( After their first kiss, Renjun asked if Mark had any question, and Mark, being the weak man he is, asked if he was a x-men, which made Renjun laugh a lot, answer ‘no’ and decided to mess with him by not answering anything else. The second time they kissed, Renjun asked if Mark had any question, and Mark, still being a weak man, asked him if he was an alien, which made Renjun laugh again and answer ‘no’. The third time they kissed, Mark asked if Renjun was from the future, two seconds after their lips parted, and Renjun laughed again and kissed him a fourth time, letting Mark ask him one more time. Mark asked Renjun how he managed to save him, and Renjun replied that he was a witch.)

**  
**

**GAME OVER**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>05

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE (2nd year student)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> one boyfriend (Huang Ren Jun)  
> one ex-boyfriend (Qian Kun)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> university student +2%  
> best friend +15%  
> boyfriend 15%  
> been cheated on -6%  
> been poisoined -12%  
> boyfriend isn't human +2%  
**TOTAL HAPPINESS : 66%** ]


	19. Break up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; T  
> TW ; cheating, swearing, mention of violence

Mark still isn’t sure about breaking up with Kun, but Yukhei’s words started to get into his head and he started to believe that it wasn’t fair to Kun. But it was hard because it felt really nice to be with Kun, and even though he wasn’t passionately in love with him, he still liked him very much, making it hard to do the right thing.

That is why they had been together for a bit more than a year now, that is why Mark let him give him so many flowers and went on so many dates with him.

The thing that made him change his mind for real was, well it was Yukhei— in a sense. But not his pestering. As they started their second year at university, and Yukhei became a regular on the lacrosse team, he got some kind of popularity amongst first years. Which helped him get a boyfriend, a guy who just entered the team but to whom lacrosse was his whole life : Yangyang.

Mark met Yangyang a few times since they started dating, but they haven't become best friends yet. However, seeing them together made him realise what relationships were supposed to be like, what kind of look a person in love and wholeheartedly happy should be like. Yangyang looked at Yukhei in a way Mark was incapable of looking at Kun like. Yukhei holds yangyang so tight Mark got scared the first time because it never had been this way with Kun and he thought Yukhei might hurt his boyfriend.

That’s how he came to terms with his decision: tomorrow, he would break up with Kun.

And when tomorrow came, he almost chickened out but he was smart enough and knew himself enough to know that he would, so he warned Yukhei the day before and he was there to push him toward Kun’s flat. When Mark knocked, Yukhei stayed hidden behind a tree, it wasn’t Kun who opened the door but someone else. But Mark tried his best to be brave and introduced himself, asking the other guy if Kun was there and if not where could he reach him ? The other man’s face seemed to recognize his name and extended his hand to introduce himself properly. His name was Kunhang and he was Kun’s little brother, he told him that his brother was doing some groceries but that he shouldn’t be long and he could wait there. Which he agreed to do. The two young men talked about many topics and hit it right on, they felt like they had known each other for a very long time. But Mark noticed something weird, as conversation went by, Kunhang’s face started to get darker and darker until he didn’t smile anymore.

“What is wrong dude?“

Kunhang seemed to hesitate a bit and then he probably decided that the best was to be honest and told Mark everything. He told Mark about his brother having a long term boyfriend, about his liking for fresh meat and about how he wasn’t the first one Kun played with.

Mark didn’t know how to feel.

He shouldn’t be hurt because he was about to break up with him, and he wasn’t even in love with Kun. But not being with someone anymore, and not being with someone anymore because the guy was a piece of shit and played with you are two different things. Mark wasn’t hurt about the fact that Kun didn’t love him, he was hurt about the fact that he never respected him, about the fact that he used him, that he treated him as a side-chick or something like that.

Kun didn’t deserve to be broken up with properly, so Mark thanked Kunhang for his honesty and left. As soon as he left the house, Yukhei ran up to him and hugged him. He thought that Mark had just broken up with his boyfriend of a whole year, and although he wasn’t in love with him he knew it would still hurt a bit, so he hugged him. But Mark wasn’t sad.

Mark was fuming.

He got out of Yukhei’s embrace and started spitting insults and swear words, which didn’t look like him at all and scared his best friend a little, to be honest. Once they got back to their dorm, and Mark could punch his pillow and let his anger out on it, he told Yukhei everything, as usual. But this time he didn’t tell him about the nice dates and cute little presents and hand holdings, he told him a tale of betrayal and dickery.

It was hard for Yukhei to stay put and not storm out to break Kun’s jaw. He wanted it so badly but he knew it wasn’t the best thing to do, unless he wanted them both to be expelled, which he didn’t.

Instead, he swore Mark that he would find a way to make that douchebag pay.

The revenge plan came a few hours later, when Yukhei was texting with his boyfriend and told him about why he was so mad and not in a good mindset right now (along with an apology because Yangyang wasn’t the cause of his bad mood): Yangyang had friends who could help.

At first, both Mark and Yukhei thought that when Yangyang said ‘my friend can help make them pay’, he meant he had friends who were big and knew how to fight and maybe even murder people. They didn’t expect to meet Chenle and Renjun, two small and rather thin boys.

The revenge plan did come through, however. Turned out they could actually make people pay, but not in the way they were expecting - Chenle and Renjun were cousins and their family was part of a very ancient coven. Mark believed in the supernatural but wasn’t willing to believe that two people he had in front of his eyes could use magic just because they said so. Yukhei didn’t believe in it at all.

It took them a few seconds to believe them, when they used an ‘easy’ spell to make things levitate in their room.

A few hours later, their dorm room had changed, and they all got ready to summon a demon. The cousins’ way for revenge was radical : summon a demon, ask the demon to make whomever pay, and then say goodbye to the demon and move on with life.

What the wizards didn’t foresee was for the demon to be hot as fuck and seduce Mark right after making Taeil and Kun pay. Jaehyun, the demon, didn’t want to tell them how he made them pay for playing with Mark, his method had to remain secret it was in the contract they made. (although he didn’t really do his part of the contract where he was supposed to go back to the underworld after the deed was done).

**GAME OVER**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>06

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE (2nd year student)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> one boyfriend (Jung Jae Hyun)  
> one ex-boyfriend (Qian Kun)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> university student +2%  
> best friend +15%  
> boyfriend 15%  
> been cheated on -6%  
> revenge +8%  
> boyfriend isn't human +2%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 86%** ]


	20. Go for a walk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Mark decided to go out to get some fresh air, and after telling Yukhei that he’d be okay about a thousand times, he finally got to feel some wind on his face. It felt good, it helped, and he started to run.

Mark never ran before, at least not without being forced, but it just felt right, to get more wind on his face, to feel his heart race. It allowed him to bring out the rage he had inside of him, to help him unwind.

But soon enough, his lack of stamina took the better of him and he had to stop. And all the sad thoughts he had been repressing— by calling Kun with many names in his head while running— came rushing back, as if they had been running behind him, never quite far away.

And Mark felt the urge to go back home, he didn’t want to be alone, it was too quiet, too calm. So he walked back to the dorm, as quickly as possible although he couldn’t run anymore.

When he finally made it back, he opened the door and was glad to see that the light was still on, meaning Yukhei was not sleeping.

“ Mark, are you okay ?” asked Yukhei as soon as he saw him enter.

“ I told you a million times earlier, I’m okay, don’t worry.”

Yukhei didn’t seem to buy his lie this time, and got up to hug his best friend. He took him in his arms, in his embrace and brought Mark’s head to rest on his chest. “Why are you crying then ?” he whispered softly. Mark broke down even more, he didn’t notice he had been crying and felt stupid, he felt stupid about so many things it made him cry harder.  
But thank god he had Yukhei.

He had Yukhei to lean on, Yukhei to rely on, Yukhei to hug him and reassure him that he didn’t deserve something like this to happen to him, that he had way more worth and Kun never deserved to be with someone as amazing as Mark. He had Yukhei to wipe away his tears, but he also had Yukhei to let him cry as much as he needed and use his t-shirt as tissue.

He had Yukhei to sleep with, nested in his arms, watching over him.

What should he do when he wakes up? Stay snuggled in Yukhei's arms or go for another run?

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ SNUGGLE ] [ GO RUNNING ]**

**(chap.14) / (chap.32)**


	21. Stay at home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Mark decides to stay at home with Yukhei, he doesn’t have the strength to do anything else. So they stayed at home together, cuddled up on Yukhei’s bed, watching dumb tv shows on his laptop. Mark cried a lot but having his friend next to him made him feel better, it was all the moral support he needed.

Yukhei was amazing. He let him breath for a few days, let him sleep in, went to each of Mark’s lectures to tell the teachers he was sick and couldn’t come and find a classmate to give their notes to Mark. And then he went to his own lectures.

He did this for three days until he went home to a crying Mark with a letter in his hands. The letter was from the student office and talked about the tutoring program, about Mark’s tutor (Kun) not wanting to tutor him anymore and a list of potential new tutors. When Yukhei arrived, Mark stretched out his arm to give him the paper so he could read and understand why he was in this state, which Yukhei did, before getting Mark in his arms until he didn’t cry anymore.

“Maybe you should stop this? What about finding a club instead? Make friends?”

Mark didn’t reply and kept his head buried on his friend’s belly, his arms holding weakly on his shirt. At some point he fell asleep like this, and Yukhei didn’t have the heart to wake him up and stayed in this position the whole night, watching videos on his phone since he couldn’t sleep.

When Mark woke up, it was still really early but they could hear the birds chirping. He stood back up, and finally noticed Yukhei. “ You stayed like that all night ?!”

Yukhei shrugged and went to his own bed to get some sleep before his 11am lecture. When he woke up Mark wasn’t there anymore, which both made him happy and worried. Happy that he finally went out of the dorm. Worried that he might go out because he’s not feeling good and something might happen to him.

Yukhei had to go to his lecture. And when he came back, Mark was at his desk, with Queen as background music, apparently studying. It was a nice change but Yukhei wondered what made him go back to normal.

“You’re back!! I need to tell you things” he pressed pause on spotify and turned to look at Yukhei, a thousand flashcards in his hands. “I followed your advice, I went to the student office to quit the tutoring program and looked into the clubs. You know I was hesitating between getting a tutor or joining a quiz team at the beginning of the year? So I joined one! But I think I’m far behind them so I’m practicing. Do you have stuff to do or can you quiz me?”

Yukhei had homework, but nothing he would be graded on, and seeing Mark with this little spark in his eyes and this smile made it impossible for him not to help him.  
Starting from there, Mark was happier.

He stopped dwelling on Kun, he thought about him from time to time, mostly before going to sleep, shed a few tears here and there. But, he wasn’t thinking about him most of the time and just went about his days happily. He talked with Yukhei, hung out in the dorm and outside the dorm with him, went to his lacrosse games and cheered as loud as he could. He never missed any quiz team practice and club activity, the president of the club, Doyoung, thought that having bonding time was essential to the team, and that having extra activities based on learning would make the team stronger too. That’s why they often went to the cinema together, to the museum. But they didn’t only goto cultural places, sometimes it was a coffee shop and Doyoung would quiz them here, with a free hot chocolate for the winner.

Mark was happy. His best friend was amazing and he made new friends in the team.

The club had already formed small teams, so that everyone could participate in tournaments, they were made based on levels and specialized areas. Mark joined a team who was missing a member, so when he arrived, Jeno, Dejun and Donghyuck welcomed him like a hero.

His team liked to hang out outside of the practices and Doyoung’s activities. They quickly became really good friends, a little group. None of them were in the same major but that’s what made their team powerful, and their friendship strong.

One evening, whereas Mark said goodnight to Yukhei with a duffle bag on his shoulder, ready to spend the night at Donghyuck’s, he completely forgot about what day it was. When he arrived at Donghyuck’s and his whole team was already there, welcoming him with warm embraces and big smiles, he completely forgot that Kun had broken his heart two months ago, on this exact same day. When they were cuddled up on the couch, sharing two blankets while watching a horror movie (that was on Doyoung’s list), Mark finally forgot about his heartbreak

**GAME OVER**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>07

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE (1st year student)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> three friends (Lee Je No, Lee Dong Hyuck, Xiao De Jun)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> university student +2%  
> best friend +15%  
> happy without a boyfriend +15%  
> been played with but doesn't care -1%  
> three friends [(+5)x3]%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 96%** ]


	22. Stay friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Mark didn’t have the courage to ask Kunhang on a date, but he was brave enough to acknowledge his feelings and actually talk about them with Yukhei.

Every single night.

Yukhei wasn’t bothered by it, or at least he pretended not to be, which Mark thought was very nice of him. He was lucky to have Yukhei as a friend.

He was lucky to be Kunhang’s friend as well, because since then, they kept going on little adventures— sometimes they were planned (Mark needed to buy a new notebook, Kunhang wanted to try the donuts of that one specific shop), sometimes they weren’t (Kunhang saw Mark on campus and decided to drag him for a walk along the river). Every time however, they were magical.

One night was a bit different from the previous adventures. Firstly they went out at night, which they had never done before. Secondly, Kunhang was calling him and told him to look through his window, which Mark did— in pyjamas— meaning his crush saw him in his nerdy greek mythology pajamas, 0% attractive. Thirdly, they held hands.

How did this happen ? Mark didn’t know for sure, but Kunhang had called him so that they could go fireflies-gazing. That wasn’t a real word but Mark thought it was cute, and decided to keep calling it that way. They went out of campus and into a tiny forest surrounding a small lake to get to see the glowing bugs and ended up staying there for hours. That’s how Mark learned that Kunhang was just as nerdy as him when it concerned bugs. Which was really endearing (he didn’t need to find him even cuter but here he was).

A few hours after getting out of the dorm, Mark was holding hands with Kunhang, walking around the lake and taking pictures of it, of the fireflies, of them in front of the lake, of them in front of the lake while Kunhang kissed his cheek, of them in front of the lake while Mark blushed and squealed because Kunhang had kissed his cheek, of them in front of the lake while Kunhang asked Mark to be his boyfriend.

And of them kissing in front of the lake after Mark said yes.

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>03

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE, 1st year student

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> one boyfriend (Wong Kun Hang)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> university student +2%  
> best friend +15%  
> boy friend +15%  
> been played with -3%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 79%** ]


	23. Ask him out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G  
> TW ; major character death

Mark couldn’t be just friends with Kunhang anymore, he liked the boy way too much and Yukhei was starting to not being able to endure anymore of Mark crying about how cute Kunhang is, how gentle and kind Kunhang is, how fucking in love with Kunhang he is.

So Mark decided to ask him out on a date. He was too much of a coward so he sent him a text (he thought about sending him a card but then there was a risk that his brother would find it, which meant trouble), and Kunhang replied to it right away.

They went on a date, and everything was magical. They laughed a lot, talked a lot, ate good food, looked silly with the wind on their face while they walked with no purpose other than spending time together, holding hands. Mark walked Kunhang back and kissed him good night.

Then he squealed and ran back to his dorm to tell everything to Yukhei.

Mark and Kunhang went on many more dates and finally called each other boyfriend. They graduated and moved in a flat together, Mark was finally a recognized historian and published a few papers while teaching at university, and Kunhang was working as a entomologist for a Federal Research Laboratory. Both of them got their dream jobs, which they enjoyed very much.

Mark was so proud of being Kunhang’s boyfriend, and he was so proud of his boyfriend for accomplishing so much.

Kunhang was equally as proud.

They kept living together for a while, everything went well until it wasn’t enough anymore. Calling each other boyfriend’s wasn’t enough. So this time, Kunhang made the first step and got on one knee after one of Mark’s conferences.

Yukhei was Mark’s best man at the wedding.

Kun came with Taeil, they had been married for a while now and Mark didn’t have any animosity toward his husband’s brother any longer. (Yukhei came with a guy named Sicheng who was apparently his boyfriend of two years, of whom Mark never heard about but that was okay, Yukhei was like that and it didn’t mean that he didn’t like Mark, it just meant that he forgot to tell him, and that the opportunity to make the two men of his life meet didn’t arise before, which was fine. Yukhei was a pro at dropping huge news long after the war ended.)

Being married to Kunhang was easy, living with him was easy. — They never managed to get a kid but Mark was the godfather of Yukhei’s daughter Lia (which wasn’t Sicheng’s, they broke up two weeks after Mark’s and Kunhang’s wedding). They did get a dog though, which Kunhang treated like his son.

Growing old with Kunhang was easy too.

First, they attended Lia’s wedding, then they retired from their jobs and sold their house to travel the world, then Lia started to come every month to check on their health until they moved in with Yukhei so it was easier for her to check on all of them at once and more often. Even when they were heighty they didn’t want a nurse, they kept saying that they were able to take care of themselves. Second, Kun died at the hospital after being sick for a while, then Kunhang died peacefully in his sleep, leaving Mark and Yukhei alone until a few years later Yukhei chose to get euthanized, saying he wanted to die before living became too painful.

Mark watched all of them leave him, until the only one still there was Lia.

But halas, Lia was now quite old too and her own children came to look after her, meaning she couldn’t take care of Mark and he had to go to a house for old people. He hated it. He hated being old, he hated being alone, he hated needing someone to go pee.

He hated it so much that he died in the house in only a few days.

Mark had lived a great life, a happy life with Kunhang. But now that he was on the way to some place better, he was wondering if his life would have been different if he hadn’t met him ? What if he had chosen to go into the trivia club instead of contacting Kun ? or maybe the cooking club he saw a poster of ?

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>04

MARK LEE STATUS  
>DEAD (old)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>100%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> one husband (Wong Kun Hang)  
> one goddaughter (Wong Lia)  
> one dog (Wonglee)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> professor +25%  
> best friend +15%  
> husband +20%  
> been played with but doesn't care anymore -1%  
> goddaughter +5%  
> dog +5%  
> can't have kid -16%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 103%** ]


	24. Don't tell him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; M  
> TW ; implied sexual content (they fuck bt it's not detailed)

Mark decided not to say anything about the sweaters and just kept wearing them whenever Yukhei went to a friend;s for a sleepover. He felt a bit lonely when his best friend wasn’t home and wearing something of his made him feel like he was a tiny bit with him. Plus it was hella comfortable.

Yukhei was at lacrosse practice and was supposed to go sleep in Felix’s dorm after, for team bonding or something. What was certain was that Mark was alone at the dorm, and had tons of homeworks to do.

He wanted to feel comfy, and decided to take another sweater from Yukhei’s wardrobe, one that he had never borrowed(stolen) before. The sweater was long enough,and since he was alone for the night he decided to be in full comfy mode and didn’t wear pants with it.

Mark studied for a while, feeling better now that he was wearing the sweater, and when he felt like he had studied enough he ate some snacks as a reward, before brushing his teeth and going to bed.

His night was all planned out since the moment Yukhei told him he wouldn’t be there, he even decided to wake up early enough to return the sweater before Yukhei got home, but what his evil mastermind of his didn’t plan out was that his best friend might change his mind.

That he might be opening the door right when Mark got out of the bathroom, wearing only the sweater and underwear.

“What are you doing here ?”,he stops in his tracks, “that’s my sweater.”

Mark looked down to see that he was indeed wearing it, and noticed he wasn’t wearing much of anything else, which made him blush instantly and run to his bed to hide.

“ We were too many,” Yukhei started, going to his side of the room to get rid of his sports bag, “and there weren’t enough beds, so I thought I’d sleep here.” He turned to smile at Mark, not at all bothered by his wardrobe choice and his thief tendencies.

“But I don’t feel like sleeping here.”

Mark blushed harder, he had never felt this feverish when he turned around to look at Yukhei, seeing the look in his eyes, the one he had been feeling on him a few seconds earlier. “You mean, you planned to fall asleep surrounded with people so it’d feel weird to sleep alone in your bed ?” Mark wasn’t the most subtle, but he wasn’t the most straightforward either, especially when the air was this tense.

“Yeah. That’s exactly what I meant, thanks.”

It wasn’t the first time they slept in the same bed, together, but they usually wore their sweatpants and tshirts. It wasn’t the first time Yukhei came into Mark’s bed and cuddled him, not the first time they spooned, but Mark usually doesn’t feel Yukhei against him.

He doesn’t turn around to nest his head on his chest either, nor hope for more.

“Have.. Have you drunk ?” He didn’t smell like he had, but Mark wanted to be sure, he needed to be sure that Yukhei wasn’t like this with him because he had one too much drink. He wanted it to be genuine, and consensual.

“ I have, but not that much,” Yukhei pressed his hand harder on Mark’s back, bringing him closer, whispering “don’t worry”

Mark couldn’t repress his smile and felt bold, energized by Yukhei’s words he left a first kiss on his best friend’s neck. His weakness is beefy boys, indeed.

What happened after that felt like a dream for both of them, they had repressed their feelings for way too long and they didn’t know if this night would be a recurring thing or not, and just in case, they both silently decided to get the most of it.

It wasn’t the only night it happened, it actually became the first of a long series of friendly hook-ups. After their first time together, Yukhei dropped a “It was great, bro”, which made Mark think that they were just being bros, having no homo handjobs. And Mark wasn’t the best when it came to relationships so he didn’t notice Yukhei trying to hint at him that he wanted more.

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>09

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE (1st year student)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend with benefits (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> three friends (Lee Je No, Lee Dong Hyuck, Xiao De Jun)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> university student +2%  
> best friend +15%  
> friend with benefits +6%  
> friend [(+5%)x3]%  
> won championship +3%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 91%** ]


	25. Tell him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Initially, Mark wanted to steal one last sweater for the two weeks’ vacations they had between semesters, and planned on telling him right after, to come clean with a pile of clean borrowed sweaters.

It didn’t go as planned though; Yukhei sat him down on the last day of the semester, the night before they had to leave and go back to their parent’s for the vacation, and said something that Mark had only heard in the movies.

“ We need to talk. Well, I need to talk to you, there’s.. stuff.. I wanna tell you. “

Mark was scared, this talk was never good in the movies, but he still sat down, and Yukhei started talking like he didn’t know how to stop.

“ I wanted to tell you, that, you know, you mean a lot to me, and since we’re not going to see each other for the next couple of weeks, you know, I wanted to let you know, and ask you too, well, urgh that’s tough. Well, for a start, sorry I stole your shampoo, and pretended I was scared of lightning a few times -”

“A few ? It was at least ten times, dude”

“I know, I just don’t want to dig up my grave too much.”

“I don’t mind about the shampoo. I gotta come clean too so.. I stole your sweaters, and wore them when you weren’t there, when I felt lonely….I’m sorry, I’ll go get them” Mark stood up to go get the sweaters that were all neatly packed into his suitcase, but Yukhei grabbed his wrist to stop him, his face looking up at Mark with a puppy-like expression.

“Stay. I don’t care, you can keep them. Mark, I.. If I lied about being scared it’s because I was actually afraid of something else. I want to be around you all the time, and it has gotten to a point where I also want to be with you during the night, so I lied because it was less scary than to tell you what I really felt.”

Mark didn’t move, his wrist still in Yukhei’s gigantic hand. “And what do you feel ?”

Mark knew— well, he hoped— but he wanted to be sure, he wanted to hear it.

“I like you, and not as a bro, I thought I’d tell you before the break so that if you reject me I’d have time to get over it and we won’t be as awkward you know..” He said that, having no faith at all that Mark would like him back in the same way, but he still looked at him with expecting eyes.

“Of course I like you, dumbass.”

That night, Yukhei did not have to pretend to be afraid of thunder, they cuddled until the new day came in and they had to say goodbye.

During the break they kept texting, and video calling each other, they just didn’t seem to get bored, or have enough. Mark’s parents had never seen him like that and it felt nice. But what felt nicer was to come back to their dorm and finally be able to go on a first date together, and have their first kiss.

They had decided that since Yukhei confessed first, he could be the one to plan their first date, and Mark would do the next one. So they went to a botanical garden, which surprised Mark because neither of them ever talked about plants, and yet Yukhei saw a pamphlet in the dorm lobby, amongst the hundred other ads about what you could do in their city.

It was a lovely idea, and Mark really liked holding Yukhei’s hand and taking a thousand pictures of him amidst the beauty of the garden (Yukhei was way more beautiful than the flowers according to Mark).

When they left, they went by the souvenir shop and bought a sunflower, with a little vase and some dirt, to bring it home and raise it together, because it’s in the sunflower field of the botanical garden that they had their first kiss, and that was where Mark asked Yukhei to be his boyfriend.

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>10

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE (1st year student)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> one boyfriend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> four friends (Lee Je No, Lee Dong Hyuck, Xiao De Jun, Kim Do Young)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> university student +2%  
> best friend +15%  
> boyfriend +15%  
> friend [(+5%)x4]%  
> won championship +3%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 105%** ]


	26. Don't ask for it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Being Yukhei’s friend made Mark more outgoing and a little less shy but it was still not enough for him to muster up the courage to ask for a boy’s number.

He liked talking with Renjun while cooking, he always had something nice to say, and gossip on other club members.

The thing is that Mark had a /feeling/ about him. He was really pretty indeed, nice, a really good cook and he also had the audacity to be good at school. Someone as perfect couldn’t exist for real. His perfection made Mark feel uneasy.

But that wasn’t all.

There was this weird feeling inside of him, a sensation, a hunch, something that made him wary of Renjun. He talked with him a lot while cooking, joked with him and he genuinely looked forward to spending time with him before going to club activities.

When he’s home alone, however, things are different.

Mark keeps having these weird dreams in which he gets poisoned by a real hot dude, with whom he used to go out on dates ? He wasn’t so sure about this part. However, he’s sure he got poisoned. And there was another dude looking a lot like renjun - or at least his awake self thinks they’re the same, but when he is sleeping he doesn’t even think about cooking club renjun - who cured him with magic.

Now, whenever he’s home, especially after club activities, and even when he isn’t asleep, he thinks about Renjun with a stomach ache, he cannot shake off the feeling that Renjun is a witch. Hence why he has never actually asked for his number or to hang out outside of the club.

The dreams were getting weirder and weirder, and it started being overwhelming for Mark to even think about Renjun. Little by little, he was dreading going to the club, was going there walking backwards, thought about ten thousand excuses before each class.

He always went in the end.

But he was weighing the pros and cons of asking for a new tutor; what if the new one was even weirder ? what if Renjun is actually a witch and gets mad and kills him ? what if the teacher thinks he’s a prick for asking to change the tutor and gets him expelled ?

**NEXT CHAPTER;**

**[ GET A NEW TUTOR ] [ STAY LIKE THIS ]**

**(chap.33) / (chap.34)**


	27. Ask for it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G  
> TW ; swearing

Mark had a personal hype man in the name of Yukhei.

Yukhei gave him strength, motivation, confidence. Each day spent at his side made him believe more in himself and a tiny bit more outgoing, without becoming someone else. He was truly grateful for his friendship.

So it was obvious that once Mark decided to talk about his cute cooking tutor, Yukhei would tell him to get his phone number. And after a week of constant nagging and too many texts telling him to “just do it”, Mark felt he could actually ask for Renjun’s number without it being weird. And he had a pretext too !

“Hey, Renjun ? “

“What did you mess up this time Mark ?”

“Nothing ! I swear ! I was just wondering if I could have your number ? I’m trying to cook at home but I could really use some live advice.”

“Oh, Sure.”

Renjun didn’t seem weirded out, and Mark thought he was being smooth and smiled slightly, happy and proud of himself for managing to ask for a cute boy’s number.

Renjun wrote his number on a piece of paper and Mark stored it preciously in his pocket, promising Renjun he would text him the next time he cooks, even if it’s pasta, to which Renjun just said “okay” without seeming to actually care.

Mark thought it was weird how cold he was acting, but at the same time he did give him his number so surely he wasn’t that uninterested ? He didn’t have the pretension to think Renjun wanted to hook up with him or anything, but if he gave him his number he would at least want to be friends with him right ?

The activity went well, and Mark went home after saying goodbye to Renjun, and decided to make carbonara pasta tonight. He bought the ingredients on his way and texted Renjun about it, to be sure he wasn’t doing any big mistake.

To Renjun  
> Hi Renjun ! It’s Mark ! I’m making carbonara pasta tonight, do you have any advice ?

On the way home, he kept his phone in his hand, waiting for Renjun to text him back but it didn’t happen. Once inside his shared room, he put down the ingredients, said hi to Yukhei and told him about tonight’s (hopefully) carbonara.

When he started breaking the eggs in the salad bowl, his phone started buzzing and Mark put his cooking on hold to check.

To Mark  
> Hi Mark! I’m sorry but I’m not Renjun. I would say you messed up 1 digit or something but Renjun is actually my friend so I think he gave you mine on purpose, i’m sorry dude. But if you need help with carbonara, I can help!

Mark was dumbfounded. He felt so shitty, like a bus had rolled over him. Renjun gave him someone else’s phone number despite knowing that they would see each other again, what a dick move !

Yukhei looked over to Mark when he stopped hearing cooking noises and saw a stilled Mark. He went to him and they talked about it, Yukhei trying to find a good way to take it and told Mark he should change tutor when he went back to the club.

But Mark was curious about the guy he actually texted, and despite him now hating Renjun and the dick move he made, he still could use some help with the carbonara. So he decided to text the dude back.

They ended up talking all night.

Mark learned the guy was named Jaemin, was an engineering major and a year younger than him as well, he helped him with the cooking and Mark sent him pictures of it when it was finally done! After that they kept talking. They talked about Renjun being mean, and even if he was Jaemin friend he agreed the way he handled it wasn’t nice, they talked about their studies and how they both find the other’s field fascinating (Mark also told Yukhei that Jaemin must have a big brain to be an engineering student and that big brains are hot). They talked about movies, about their friends, their club activities.

When the moon started to shine less and the day came in, they were still texting.

When Yukhei woke up and saw Mark giggling, typing fast on his phone to keep the conversation going, he smiled fondly. He was happy for Mark, that he found a new friend.  
They kept talking through text for a few days, then started sending pictures of random things during their days, random thoughts.

Then they decided to meet up and settled a date in a couple of days.

Mark was really excited about it, he felt they were really clicking and hoped it would be the same when they meet!

Then they sent selfies. And Mark combusted.

Jaemin sent one first, wanting to show Mark how his cat fit on his head, but this implied sending his head as well. And lord was he cute. When he received the picture, Mark froze, red coming to his cheeks while smiling like an idiot. Yukhei noticed it and asked what Jaemin did this time for him to blush. Mark replied by showing him the picture and Yukhei nodded “Cute, really cute, date him”.

When they first talked Mark didn’t think about flirting with him at all, it was just about cooking, then about being friends. It didn’t cross his mind until he started waiting for his texts, staying up all night talking to him, trying to do interesting things during his day so he could have a pretext to send him texts. At this point he started thinking about flirting. What if I flirt a little ? Would he respond ? Would I want him to flirt back ?

When they finally met, none of them were awkward, but Mark could not flirt. He just acted as himself and if it made Jaemin like him a bit more then he would not complain, but he was not going to actively chase after him, no matter how cute he was.

Jaemin was flirting though.

He clearly was, Mark was sure of that. He saw how Yukhei acted when he tried to flirt with people, saw how everybody acted around Yukhei. He knew what flirting was like, and /that/ was definitely flirting. He usually didn’t pick up on it so if he did, it means it was clearly visible and no way he got mistaken.

But it could just be the way Jaemin is ? Maybe he is like this with everyone ?

Still, Mark couldn’t repress his blushing to come back at full speed whenever Jaemin brushed his hand, bumped his knee onto his or complimented him. It felt nice, Mark thought, to have all his attention.

When he saw his picture at first, and he started feeling weird, he wondered if he was interested in him only since he saw his face, only for his looks, or if it had been dormant all along. Now he knows, he’s clearly crushing on him and has been for a while.

Their hang out goes well, and they decide to get dinner on campus as well.

Then they finally part ways, but before Mark turns to go down the path to his dorm unit, Jaemin grabs his wrist to press a kiss to his cheek and says “It really felt like a date, I really hope we can do this more”.

Mark had never blushed this much before.

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>17

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE (2nd year student)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> four friends (Kim Do Young, Lee Dong Hyuck, Xiao De Jun, Lee Je No)  
> dating (Na Jae Min)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> university student +2%  
> best friend +15%  
> friends [(+5)x4]%  
> won championship +3%  
> dating +10%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 100%** ]


	28. Forgive him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G

Mark didn’t really know what to do, or what to feel. He was annoyed about Yukhei’s behaviour, but couldn’t deny his heartbeat had raced when he confessed. At the same time, he had really enjoyed his date with Jeno, and was feeling giddy with every text he sent.

He needed guidance, advice, someone who could help him sort his thoughts and understand his feelings. He typically would have come to Yukhei but couldn’t. Then he would have asked his quiz teammates but they are close to Jeno and Mark feared they wouldn’t be unbiased. So he thought about Doyoung.

Doyoung wasn’t aware of what was going on between him and Jeno, so Mark could tell him his trouble with anonymous names. And he has been like an older brother to them throughout the year, so he was actually the wisest choice of a guide.

Mark texted him, asking him if they could meet because he was having a quarter-life crisis (despite not being 25 yet) and really needed help. Doyoung agreed right away and offered him to come to his own dorm room, his roommate wasn’t there so they could talk peacefully while avoiding eavesdropping people and Mark could feel safe in a known environment.

When they met, Doyoung didn’t ask him questions, he waited for Mark to reveal piece by piece what was going on, tell him the whole story of Person J and Person Y (really subtle), and it was only when Mark asked him a question that he started speaking.

“ From what I understand here, you might have feelings for both of them Mark. It is something totally possible and you wouldn’t be weird or inhumane for it. You like them both, you want to kiss them both you said right ? So why would you try to see which one you should date, instead of envisioning the idea of dating them both, if they’re willing ?”

The idea was groundbreaking for Mark. Never had he thought about this. He had been raised in a loving family who didn’t care about their son’s sexuality as long as he was happy (and was successful both in finding a good partner and having a good job). But in a monogamous loving family who always talked to him about finding “the one”, about being good to your significant otheR (without an -s), about taking someonE on a date, about how when he’d get married they’d send them /both/ on a really amazing honeymoon. With all of this, he always thought that you really could love only one person at a time.

After his talk with Doyoung, he was still conflicted.

Wouldn’t this be mean to them if they had to share his affection? Could he, himself, have enough time to date two people ? Would they even like each other ? What if after some time he finds out he likes one more than the other ?

And more importantly, would they even want to try a polyamorous relationship ?

He took a few days to do some research about it, and the more he dug into it, the more he thought this would actually be the best for him. He didn’t think he could only be in a poly relationship, but he did come to terms with liking both Jeno and Yukhei and about not willing to sacrifice one to get the other.

Now he had to talk to them, and see what they would think about this.  
v  
He knows what he should do : sit them down, one after the other, starting with the one he thinks would be the least likely to agree, and explain how he’d come to think about it, how he truly thinks it could work, and how badly he wants to be with them both.

But what his peanut-sized brain did was send them a text - at least he didn’t create a whole group chat - and sent them the same text with barely enough information and explanation.

To Jeno  
> Hi I like you ! But I also like Yukhei. I found out about poly relationships ! Wanna try it ?

To Yukhei  
> Hi I like you ! But I also like Jeno. I found out about poly relationships ! Wanna try it ?

After sending it, he knows it’s bad to send the same exact text, and that he is probably an asshole for it.

Especially since Yukhei is in the exact same room as him. They both hear his phone’s notification noise, Mark sees Yukhei stop his studying to check his phone and look a bit perplexed when seeing Mark’s name on it.

Then he turns his head toward his roommate. “What the fuck dude?”

And as if they shared a telepathic bond (hey! they have things in common! how sweet! thought peanut-sized brain Mark), Jeno burst into their room. “Is this some kind of joke to you ?!”

Mark understood he fucked up. He already knew when he pressed “send” but he didn’t know any other way to go about it. He was a beginner in relationships as well, so he was really even more clueless about poly.

What he does know is that there is no perfect way to talk about serious matters and that the only thing left for him to do is what he should have done in the beginning : explain everything from the start.

So it’s what he did.

And by the end of it, both of them were calmed, looking at him with ever loving eyes.

“It makes sense, of course you can like several people. It’s not like hearts divide in pieces or whatever, you like both your parents etc.” Yukhei started, understanding the situation rather well. For someone who gave him the silent treatment over jealousy not so long ago, Yukhei was taking all this pretty well.

“I’m not.. entirely against it, but I’m not entirely sure either.”

“It’s totally understandable don’t worry Jeno! I’m already happy none of you are thinking I’m some weirdo, or throwing me stuff. It took me some days to get around the idea myself, and I’m the one having double feelings so.. Take as long as you want. The only thing is that, once you decide you still want to date me despite me liking someone else it’ll mean you’d agree with me being with that other person too. Of course you can decide it’s not for you and not wanna date me anymore!”

Jeno nodded, understanding the situation. Mark had already told them that in his speech, along with how him liking both of them right now didn’t mean he would start liking everybody and bring more people into the relationship without their consent. However, it is meaning he won’t accept to be with only one of them.

When Jeno left, and Mark was left in the same room as Yukhei, he couldn’t help but overthink. What if none of them want to stay with him ? He’d be alone despite two wonderful boys liking him ? Isn’t that dumb ? And what if only one wants to ? Should he date that one because he was accepting of the situation ? Or should he decide that it’s both or nothing ?

His brain was on overdrive, overheating and Yukhei could totally see it. He came to Mark’s bed, sat next to him and smiled sweetly at him. “Don’t sweat about it too much. I’m thinking about it to be completely sure I won’t regret this, but I’d rather share you with a cool guy like Jeno than not being with you at all. And Jeno is nice, sweet, smart and likes you, I’m pretty sure he’s gonna come to the same conclusion as me. if not you can still date me and if you like someone else in the future, we’ll see about it.”

Yukhei winked at Mark before he could even reply and went back to his own bed, only noticing once laid down that he basically told him his answer regarding the poly relationship.

A few days later, Jeno was at their room, knocking on their door and Mark opened, thinking it was the food delivery. When he saw Jeno, his face lit up before starting to feel anxious. What if he said no ?

But Yukhei had been right and Jeno just needed time to fully understand what it would mean, and figure out what was best for him and his feelings.

That night, they pushed Mark and Yukhei’s bed next to one another and the three of them slept there, snuggled up, Mark in the middle of his two boyfriends.

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>13

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE (1st year student)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> two boyfriends (Wong Yuk Hei, Lee Je No)  
> three friends (Lee Dong Hyuck, Xiao De Jun, Kim Do Young)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> university student +2%  
> best friend +15%  
> boyfriend [(+15)x2]%  
> friend [(+5%)x3]%  
> won championship +3%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 115%** ]


	29. Stay mad at him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; M  
> TW ; murder

Mark had asked Yukhei to give him some time to think it through, but it’s now been days and he was just as angry. He couldn’t comprehend that he would give him the silent treatment over something so dumb.

They were friends before anything else. Best friends.

He should have come to him, should have talked to him, Mark would have understood and dropped Jeno’s ass in a heartbeat.

But no, dumb boy over there decided to ignore him and hurt him.

The issue now was that Mark couldn’t forgive Yukhei for the days of pretending he didn’t exist, and as time went by - with him not talking to Yukhei - they grew distant. They didn’t talk until they fell asleep anymore, didn’t eat breakfast together anymore, didn’t go to classes together anymore. Yukhei even had a game and Mark didn’t come to cheer him on.

The other issue was that Yukhei was too nice. He knew he fucked up and didn’t want to be insensitive; he gave Mark as much time as needed without asking him “when will you talk to me again?”. Maybe if he had talked to him, confronted him, told him that a month was way more time than needed, Mark would have expressed his anger toward him and they would be even, would be friends again.

But Yukhei did not. And Mark had no outlet to let his anger go, to hurt Yukhei in the same way he did to him.

At some point he understood that what he needed before going back to his best friend was to get some kind of revenge. Not something too drastic, not planning to be mean or anything (plus he knew him not talking to Yukhei for a month was already some kind of revenge). He had no idea what to do but the future looked brighter - he would find something, appease his heart and anger and get his best friend back.

A few days later, the solution presented to Mark in the shape of a economy major named Yeri. He had never met her, but heard of her through Seulgi.

“You don’t believe in magic? in supernatural forces?” Seulgi had said to her friend, who didn’t believe in spiritual things.

“Yeah, I do. My friend, Yeri, knows voodoo. She’s really good, it’s scary!!”

Mark heard Seulgi loud and clear, she had a friend who knew voodoo. He never witnessed it but had always firmly believed in supernatural forces so he could totally get into it.  
The idea of getting back at Yukhei through voodoo sat in his mind for a couple more days before he saw Seulgi again, at the cafeteria this time. He wasn’t going to ask her anything at first but then he heard her say “And you Yeri?”.

Yeri was right there.

Mark saw it as a sign and went to talk to them.

The very same evening, Yeri was in his shared room, asking him to bring her the things she needed to practice her voodoo. Mark went to get some hair of Yukhei, asking once again “this won’t hurt him, right?”.

Mark had asked Yeri if he could hire her, and then decided on the “no-hurting” rule. It was about getting revenge, not about sending him to the hospital.

Yeri assured him once again that it wouldn’t, and Mark gave her the hair, then backed away not to interfere (but still wanting to watch her do it). It was fascinating, Yeri had such a different aura while doing it, Mark was almost entransed.

Yeri wasn’t so entransing when she started making an horrified face, as if something went horribly wrong. Mark panicked, asking her what was going on.

“I don’t know. I don’t understand, i-, i-, i don’t know what is happening it shouldn’t be like that!”

Mark, still panicked, rushed to his phone to call Yukhei but he didn’t answer. He called his emergency contact teammate, who didn’t answer either while Yeri was cleaning everything up, afraid of what it meant, what she had done.

Mark left Yeri there, running outside of his dorm to look for his best friend; he felt so bad, so angry but this time at himself. He was so dumb to even want revenge, what kind of person would do that ? Not the kind of person he wants to be, he aspires to be, he thought he was.

Outside, he heard sirens and chased them down to the lacrosse field where he saw a crowd of players around medics.

And in the middle, Yukhei.

Yukhei, lying down, his gaze fixed on Mark but they had no sparkle in them anymore, no light.

No life.

Mark wanted to cry, he felt the tears rushing through his body, his heart clenching and his fists beating faster, or was it the opposite? He didn’t know, didn’t understand, didn’t comprehend that they had killed his best friend.

He didn’t want to understand it, didn’t want to acknowledge it.

Yeri finally reached up to him and told him there was nothing they could do for Yukhei anymore, they had to run before they get arrested for murder.

Mark followed her, speechless, not able to speak, to cry, to feel any emotion.

He killed his best friend because he had been a bit angry and revengeful. He killed his best friend because he was feeling things toward him he didn’t want him to. Mark didn’t deserve to feel anything anymore.

So he did not.

He shut his heart, and followed Yeri out of the campus, out of town, out of the country.

Out of the life as he knew it.

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>14

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE (fugitive)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>0%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one friend (Kim Ye Ri)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> drop out -25%  
> lost friends [(-6)x3]%  
> won championship +3%  
> lost his crush -9%  
> killed his best friend -37%  
> is a fugitive -22%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : -58%** ]


	30. Ask to be boyfriends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; T  
> TW ; mentioned sexual content

The same night Mark learned about Jeno being a werewolf, he asked him to be his boyfriend.

At first he did not want to make it seem like he was asking to show him it was okay, he wasn’t afraid and still liked him. However, as the night grew old, Mark had his eyes focused on Jeno, all of him, and he couldn’t stop thinking about his initial plan.

“I wanna be your boyfriend.” he blurped, without any preliminaries, without any question. He couldn’t stop himself from stating what he wanted. Jeno looked at him a bit weirdly which made Mark blush and hide his face in his hand for a few seconds.

“I mean, I came here to ask you to be my boyfriend, but then.. this, and I thought maybe you didn’t want to be mine? Or that if I asked now you’d think I was doing it for the wrong reasons or whatever so, I’m just.. saying, I /want/ to be your boyfriend. Now you can do whatever you want with that information,” He chuckled, laying down next to him.

“Don’t pretend you’re not shy, I can hear your heartbeat going crazy.”

Thinking about it, in his own bed, the following morning, Mark is sure that he shouldn’t have found it hot. But well, he was only human (and Jeno wasn’t, it’s not fair).

He also remembers Jeno saying “Of course I want it too, I never asked before because I didn’t want to be with you when you didn’t know about me” and then the kiss.

Oh lord the Kiss. With a well deserved uppercase.

Mark remembers it clearly, how Jeno was afraid he might hurt him with his fangs, how he went for it anyway, slowly, carefully, his taste, his lips. And once Jeno noticed he wasn’t hurting Mark, him moving more, having more confidence, leading, his hand tight on Mark’s hair. Mark remembers the feeling of having Jeno’s tongue touching his, the feeling of having his hand on Jeno’s neck getting him to be ever closer, the feeling of his own tongue licking his fangs.

Mark rolled on his bed for a while, kicking his feet while thinking about last evening, about his boyfriend.

From then on, their relationship was a long quiet river, a never-ending bliss. Jeno was the best boyfriend ever and Mark was so grateful to be with him.

Mark had been afraid at first that with him and Yukhei both having a boyfriend, they’d grow apart, they’d find less time to hang out or would only talk about their boyfriends. But not at all. They were both in healthy relationships that let them have time for their friends, their hobbies, and their studies.

Their first year of university quickly came to an end after their confessions and Mark went back to Canada for the winter vacation, Yukhei to Hong Kong, Jeno and Jaemin to their hometowns. Mark missed Jeno a tremendous lot while being away even if they texted everyday and sent pictures of what they did daily. At some point, he was missing him so much that he thought about getting Jeno to meet his parents just to spend some time with him. However it was too soon in their relationship, plus it was too late now to do any changes.

He brought him the year after.

Their relationship was still going strong and they both felt ready to meet their parents as long as it wasn’t a full moon (although Jeno had gotten way better at controlling himself!), so they did it. Mark spent half the vacation at Jeno’s hometown, and Jeno came with Mark to Canada for the other half.

At the end of their third year, they went to their respective families for half the vacation, and rented an airbnb with Yukhei and Jaemin for the other half. They had been thinking about doing a friend gathering vacation for a while now and thought this was finally time -they’ve gotten used not to see their parents as much, gotten older and more responsible, and managed to save up. Oh and during the year Yukhei learned about Jeno being a werewolf (it truly was a miracle that Mark didn’t tell him sooner so Jeno wasn’t angry at all and even gave him the best dicking of his life).

The end of their fourth year was different.

It was special, for many reasons. The first one was obvious; they were graduating and some had to become adults and leave, including Yukhei and Jeno. Jaemin and Mark both stayed at their university, getting into a master program in their respective field, Mark getting closer to his dream of being a university professor.

The other one was that, throughout their time together, Mark had always wondered what it was like to be a werewolf, to be stronger, to have enhanced senses, to have matching eyes to his boyfriend. After a while, he had decided he wanted to be one, and kept asking Jeno questions related to that “How does someone turn into a werewolf?” “Can any werewolf give the bite?” “can you be turned with a scratch?”.

And then, a few months into their fourth year, Mark asked Jeno to turn him. Jeno was a bit startled at first, he didn’t think anyone would willingly want to be one. He could see the perks but there were many cons as well and he wasn’t sure Mark had a good understanding of the situation. So he told him he would consider it once Mark learned everything there had to know about his kind.

Mark did, and still wanted to become one.

Maybe the idea of being tied to Jeno - he learned that when a werewolf turns someone into one, they become bonded, part of the same pack, forever - played a part into his decision, especially when graduation was this close. But he still believed to be a pretty logical person and that his decision was thoroughly thought.

And in a heartbeat, it was graduation day.

Their parents came, Jeno’s parents meeting Mark’s for the first time, Yukhei’s mother finally getting to see Mark in real life and hugging him tightly. Their parents stayed together while their kids went to get their diploma.

Yukhei’s lacrosse team had organized a party to say goodbye to their players and he invited his boyfriend and best friend, so that’s where they went to celebrate their graduation, to congratulate each other and spend one last party together.

It was two am when Jeno and Mark went home to their dorm. Jeno’s parents went to their hotel room, staying a few days in Seoul to help their son settle in his new flat while Mark’s had to take a late flight back home but promised they would come visit soon.

It was five minutes past two am when Jeno sank his teeth deep into Mark’s shoulder, biting him as hard as he could. He knew he was hurting him but he needed to make sure the bite would take, that he wasn’t hurting for nothing in return.

It was two am and nine minutes when Mark’s eyes changed colors, turning into a bright, glowing yellow.

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>15

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE (5th year student)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> one boyfriend (Lee Je No)  
> three friends (Kim Do Young, Lee Dong Hyuck, Xiao De Jun)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> university student (master) +4%  
> best friend +15%  
> boyfriend +15%  
> friends [(+5)x3]%  
> won championship +3%  
> boyfriend isn't human +2%  
> became a werewolf +9%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 113%** ]


	31. Don't ask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; G  
> TW ; cheating (kind of)

That night, Mark came back to his dorm without knowing what to think. He knew he liked Jeno and wanted to keep dating him, but he didn’t know if he could date a werewolf. What if he becomes dangerous? What if his pack leaves and he has to follow? What if his pack leader doesn’t want him to know and wants to kill Mark?

He went to sleep, unable to tell Yukhei about such an important secret.

The following days weren’t different, they went on several more dates without calling each other boyfriends, and Mark still didn’t know if he wanted to at this point.  
Weeks went by, and—consciously or not— Mark grew apart from Jeno. They still hung out, texted each other but he wasn’t doing as much for him as he used to, not longing for him as much, not trying to reach out as much, not craving his attention as much.

He was spending more time with Yukhei though, although his best friend was still going out with his boyfriend a lot, he always made time to be with Mark.

Yukhei probably noticed Mark wasn’t so fond of Jeno lately but he didn’t ask about it, he contented himself to be there for Mark, as always. Listened when needed, hugged him when needed, made him laugh when needed.

Despite not wanting to be Jeno’s boyfriend anymore, Mark didn’t have the heart to “break up” with him. He still liked spending time with him, still found him smart, nice and incredibly handsome. And he would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy the attention and affection. So when Yukhei offered to go on a double date weekend before the end of the school year, Mark agreed, “sure! good idea!”.

The traject to the lake house wasn’t how Mark had pictured it, he naively thought they’d be all together but Jaemin had one last project to finish and Yukhei as a good boyfriend decided to stay with him and come on saturday morning together. This meant Jeno and Mark were alone in a house for a night and Mark could /feel/ that the boy didn’t want to sleep in separate beds.

He wasn’t keen on the idea at first, but when he got into the room with Jeno and the latter took his shirt off, his reluctance disappeared instantly. Mark could totally be in a bed with a man as gorgeous as him. He knew how his brain sounded, but he couldn’t deny that Jeno was hot, really, really hot, and that it’d be a shame not to cuddle with him. He was certain he gave the best cuddles, well probably after Yukhei.

The night went well, they slept in each other’s arms and none of them tried going into the other’s pants. Surprisingly, it wasn’t awkward at all, not during dinner, not when they went to bed, not when they woke up to the screams of Yukhei and Jaemin discovering the house. (And then the screams of Yukhei seeing his best friend in bed with a man, both half naked.)

The other boys finally arrived, so they could get on with the fun and after they gave them five minutes to get dressed, Yukhei and Jaemin dragged the others’ asses to the lake to go on a boat trip. The trip lasted twenty minutes and the lake wasn’t full of sensations but it was a pleasant trip nonetheless. Yukhei splashed Mark, Mark tried to make him fall off the raft, Jeno laughed at his date’s shenanigans.

The weekend went incredibly well until sunday afternoon.

They were supposed to leave at five pm but the weather wasn’t allowing them to; a huge storm was there, menacing their lives. At least from what Yukhei was saying. And Jeno too.

Jaemin and Mark laughed a little seeing their dates —big boys full of testosterone, one being the lacrosse team new star, the other a literal werewolf—be afraid of a storm and thunder noise. But they knew you couldn’t control your fears and didn’t laugh for long, choosing to build a blanket fort with everything available in the rented house instead.  
Inside the fort, the couples took a nap, Jeno in Mark’s arms, Yukhei in Jaemin’s. But about an hour later, Yukhei was still unable to sleep and Mark was awakened by Jeno’s body temperature that was way too hot, even more so now that they were trapped in a fort.

Yukhei smiled at his best friend who nodded back, pointing at a sleeping Jaemin.

“Wanna get out of here?”

Mark nodded again and extricated himself from Jeno’s embrace without waking him up, same for Yukhei. They got out of the fort, Yukhei still afraid of the storm but yawning like a baby, which made Mark laugh - a little too loud, Yukhei had to put his hand on his mouth to retain his sound not to wake the others.

They left the living room and went to one of the rooms, the one they didn’t steal the mattress from, and layed down on it.

Yukhei was finally able to sleep in Mark’s arms.

Mark still couldn’t, the beating of his own heart was keeping him awake. He knew that what he was thinking right now wasn’t right, he knew it wasn’t fair to neither Jeno nor Jaemin, but he couldn’t help it. He had always found Yukhei amazing in every possible way, always put him first, always basked in his affection. And now he could see that the reason why he never asked Jeno out before knowing about him being a werewolf was because he wanted to be with someone else but was too dumb to acknowledge it. Him being a werewolf now was merely an excuse.

Mark felt bad for Jaemin as well, because he was planning on stealing his boyfriend from him. He knew it wasn’t nice, but he wasn’t going to look at them being together while he is miserable on the side. Unless that’s what would make Yukhei the happiest, of course.

They went back to their dormitory on monday and haven’t talked about their nap, nor about Yukhei’s hand mapping Mark’s neck, nor about Mark staring at his face the whole time.

The weekend had been eye-opening for Mark. Now, he knew what he wanted, what he was feeling. He also knew he was being an asshole and decided to take actions. That’s why the day before he went back to Canada, he told Jeno he was feeling things for Yukhei. Completely honest.

Jeno said that he figured that much, and Mark felt dumb.

Throughout the vacation, Mark texted Yukhei a lot, asked him about Jaemin a lot as well, tried to feel the water before telling him he broke up with Jeno.

Yukhei’s reaction was everything Mark had hoped for. He asked why he did that, if he was sure of his choice and who did he ditch Jeno for. When Mark told him the truth, Yukhei smiled like an idiot on facetime “i’m so happy” he said.

Yukhei then explained how he only dated Jaemin to forget about Mark, how he had feelings for a while but only noticed at the quiz final, how he never felt better than in his arms on that stormy afternoon, how the saturday morning he screamed because he was jealous of Jeno, but also because, “damn my baby is pretty”.

It took him a few hours to break up with Jaemin and when their second year started, they moved their bed together, ready to be together.

Their relationship had started on rocky fondations, they weren't the best people to their exes, but the years after were full of gratefulness, good attitude and respect. They waited for Jeno and Jaemin to find new partners before doing pda in public, wrote them a deep, heartfelt apology letter and tried hard to get them to forgive them, didn’t give up the first time when Jaemin stepped on the letter.

It didn’t mean they didn’t do something shitty, but they were trying to be better people.

And that is how they raised their son, ten years later.

They raised him to be nice to others, to smile to strangers, to never bother anyone (especially not girls pretending it’s because he likes her and doesn’t know how to act), to tell people how he felt and never take friendship for granted.

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>16

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>100%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> one boyfriend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> one ex-boyfriend (Lee Je No)  
> one child  
> three friends (Kim Do Young, Lee Dong Hyuck, Xiao De Jun)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> professor +25%  
> best friend +15%  
> boyfriend +15%  
> child +33%  
> friends [(+5)x3]%  
> won championship +3%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 156%** ]


	32. Go running

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; T  
> TW ; almost-death, mention of blood

The following day, Mark felt like shit.

Yukhei had made him feel better after his walk but it wasn’t enough for him to feel better about himself, less angry. But now that he woke up he had all those feelings crushing him again - despite Yukhei being entangled around him.

He didn’t want to wake his best friend up, he had already burdened him enough last night.

He then remembered his run of the day before, how it felt liberating to have the wind on his face, how freeing it was to run and have his thoughts leave his head even for a short time. Since he did not want to wake Yukhei up, he decided to go running again - maybe this could be a new ritual for him.

He left the bed, careful not to wake him up, and changed his clothes for sportswear, tied up his shoes and left after leaving a post-it note.

He went out and started walking at first - it felt weird to straight up run without a purpose while other people were on the street. But he crossed a street with nobody on it and started running.

His uneasiness, his bad feelings about himself started to vanish with each step, his mind getting blank in a good way.

He ran like this for a while, going mostly into small streets but crossing bigger ones a few times as well. At some point while he made a turn to go from a street to another one, his foot stumbled upon a gutter and he fell down.

His face hit a huge rock that was laying on the floor.

It hurt so bad, and he felt dizzy, his vision getting blurry.

As he lost consciousness, his pain faded away as well.

The next thing he remembers is a vivid pain on his neck, a pain so strong and fulgurating, taking up his body as a whole. It was as if someone was sticking needles everywhere in him and electrifying him. He didn’t really know how to describe this pain…  
but he could describe the pain, it meant he wasn’t dead, right?

With this new knowledge he managed to hold on for dear life, endure the pain until it faltered away and he finally opened his eyes.

“Hi, how are you feeling?” said the man sitting next to him in what clearly did not look like an alley.

Mark was still shaken up— for both reasons now, Kun and the fact that he didn’t know where he was.

The man quickly told him that he had found him on the street, hurt and unconscious, and brought him to his place to nurse him back to health.

“I can leave then?” Mark was a bit dubious about the story and the fact that he hadn’t been kidnapped. Fear that seemed validated by the look on the man’s— Yuta’s (he introduced himself earlier)— face.

“Not right now, I still need to tell you things.”

Yuta then told him that he was a vampire, a few centuries old and he was living in this house with other vampires.

Mark had always believed in the supernatural, that there was no way the universe was this vast and only human beings like him existed. But he had never encountered it and wasn’t sure how to react— should he accept the fact? should he ask for proof? should he run for his life?

So he asked for proof, because he still felt like something was wrong with the situation. And Yuta’s eyes turned red, literally. And Mark got convinced.

He still didn’t understand why he shouldn’t leave yet, but he was slightly afraid now— in his mind, vampires were stronger than regular human beings— so he didn’t ask. Yuta told him anyway. He told him that to save him, because he was in a very bad state yesterday, he had to turn him. He told him that he was sorry he did that without his consent but he couldn’t really ask and couldn’t just let him die.

He also told him that if he didn’t want to and would have rather died, he’d help him.

“I don’t want to die,” replied Mark without a second thought.

They talked for a while and after a couple of hours Mark was feeling better than ever and was able to leave his bed - his bed as Yuta told him he could have the room while he learned how to feed and control himself.

Yuta introduced him to the other vampires in the house, they were all dashing and Mark felt like an outsider despite them all complimenting and welcoming him.

Mark then remembered about his life, about the university and Yukhei and asked for his phone to text him, to say that everything was alright. He invented a lie (I went to the countryside, I needed fresh air and a change of scenery and went back to the living room to learn more about being a vampire.

Taeyong - the prettiest of them all according to Mark - taught him everything for days. He debunked every stereotype spread by fictions. Mark had been sad about not being able to eat proper food ever again, said that if he had known he would have eaten a lot right before going for his run, but Taeyong told him he could still eat and that his taste sense didn’t leave him.

He stayed a week there before having to go back to university - one of the vampires was a doctor and wrote him a fake doctor note to justify his absence. He saw Yukhei again and was really happy, told him altered memories about his past week and how he is so over Kun now.

For the end of the first year, Mark stayed in the dorm, often going to the vampire house to meet with them, get some blood, but mostly to see Taeyong.

Taeyong was so nice.

He was nice in general, really kind with everyone, but he was also especially nice toward Mark and it made his heart flutter. They spent a lot of time together, Taeyong being a really old vampire meant he had lived through various eras and this really fascinated Mark, his History major self couldn’t stop asking questions. Taeyong found it endearing and was happy to provide stories.

Mark knew most of them were as old as Taeyong, or even older than him. He knew he could ask them and they’d say yes, they’d tell him amazing stories from the past— but Mark wanted to hear Taeyong. He wanted to talk with him, to learn about his life.

It didn’t take long for him to admit he was having a dumb crush on his vampire mentor and friend, but he couldn’t talk about it with anyone. He couldn’t tell Yukhei he met a vampire, this was not an option.

The situation stayed the same until Mark moved in their house at the beginning of his second year. He gave a fake excuse to Yukhei about his parents wanting him to live with adults to be sure he was taken care of and stopped eating instant ramen all the time.

His crush didn’t stop growing while living next to him, he saw Taeyong more often and could talk about him to Yukhei— they stayed best friends, even if they weren’t roommates anymore. Now he could tell him he met someone in his new home and didn’t have to mention the real meeting.

It didn’t take long for Mark to be completely in love with the older, and tried to show him how smart he was, how restrained he was - a good quality for a vampire. Not once did he slip up, not once did he lose control over his want for blood. Taeyong was really impressed and praised him a lot about it— which didn’t help Mark’s feelings.

It took another year, Mark now being in his 3rd year, for Taeyong to show interest in him, for Taeyong to care about him a bit more than the newbie or a friend, for Taeyong to look differently about him. His gaze lingered a bit more on him, his hand touched his back a bit more than necessary when he wanted to show him something, he couldn’t stop talking about Mark to the others.

It took some time, but Mark finally mustered up the courage to ask him out. He thought he had a shot now, and found several reasons why if it didn’t end up well, it wasn’t horrific (he must have had lots of people asking him out before it won’t weird him out, he will forget it in a few centuries, he can always run away).

One night, when Mark was with Taeyong - after a prep talk by Yukhei - talking about yet another historical event, Mark tried his luck by brushing his hand on Taeyong’s, by bringing his face way closer to his than usual, by complimenting him a lot more. And when he felt comfortable enough, brave enough, he finally talked to him about his feelings.

“I don’t know how you will react and I hope it won’t be weird but—, but I like you a lot. I think I love you, even. I’ve always thought you were the prettiest and”, his discourse became rushed, as if he was spurting everything he could before Taeyong could interrupt him, “you’re always so kind and smart and mature and you make me feel so safe, you never judge me for not knowing something about our kind or for asking too many questions.” He finally took a deep breath, “I just really like being around you. I just.. I just like you, and I’m hoping you like me too.. but if you don’t it’s totally fine!”

Mark was ready to say some more but Taeyong put his hand on his arm to stop him and hug him. He whispered a lot of praises in his ear while hugging and then told him he liked him too —not for as long as he did, but they had all the time in the world anyway.

**  
GAME OVER  
**

LAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>08

MARK LEE STATUS  
>DEAD (3rd year student + vampire)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> one boyfriend (Lee Tae Yong)  
> one friend (Nakamoto Yuta)

[HAPPINESS % - starting with 50%  
> university student +2%  
> best friend +15%  
> boyfriend +15%  
> been played with -3%  
> friend +5%  
> boyfriend isn't human +2%  
> became a vampire +9%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 95%** ]


	33. Get a new tutor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; T  
> TW ; major character death

After thorough thinking, weighting pros and cons, Mark decided to ask for a new tutor. He wasn’t that close to Renjun anyway so he would probably not take it personally, and he’d just have to bullshit his way through a new tutor.

When the time came for him to ask the club leader, he was really nervous, worried she might think he’s a pain in the ass, or want special treatment. But the reality was that the club leader did not care at all. “You wanna change ? Sure - Hey Johnny, Come here!” and just like that, Mark had a new tutor.

An astonishingly beautiful tutor. Older. Stronger. Taller.

Mark felt dizzy when he approached and had to remember that he was in fact living with a guy just like Johnny and should /not/ react that way! It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary!

They introduced themselves and Mark went to talk a bit with Renjun because he was feeling bad about dumping him in a way. Renjun reassured him that it was fine, that Johnny and him had different specialities and he totally understood.

He also told him rather quietly to “go get your man, mark!”.

Mark was blushing when he came back to Johnny’s table, and it didn’t get better when he remembered that Johnny was, indeed, a good cook.

Yukhei can’t cook for shit, that’s new data— how was he going to keep calm ?

Johnny was no help either; while cooking and showing him how to do stuff, he made comments along the line of ‘’I know you changed tutor because you fancy me and I think you’re cute too’’. Well, it wasn’t what he had said word for word, but the idea was there. That’s what Mark told Yukhei at least.

Yukhei was thrilled that Mark had a dumb crush on some muscular guy, it was fun to rile him up, fun to mess with him, and fun to see him fall so hard so quickly.

In a few weeks, Mark was head over heels for Johnny. He went to every club activity religiously, spent hours picking his outfit to look cute (always asking Yukhei for his honest opinion, and if he wasn’t at home then he called him to ask him to come back and tell him if he should wear his blue sweater with whales on it, or the white comfy one that’s a bit more narrow at the hips).

Mark had this ridiculous habit of looking at Johnny’s arms whenever he was mixing things, and this other ridiculous habit of blushing whenever Johnny complimented him or his newfound cooking skills.

Johnny wasn’t stupid, he looked like a jock but he was far from it.

“Mark, do you wanna grab dinner after ?” Johnny asked him after about two months of being his tutor.

Mark knew he was going to sound stupid, but he didn’t want to assume anything and have it bite him back, he needed to be sure. “Eh ? Dinner ? With everyone ?”

“No, you and me. It was fun going around the bushes, it was fun trying to make you blush but I’m tired of this, I wanna spend time with you and see if we can make something out of it.”

Mark had never been more turned on.

Of course he said yes, and they went to dinner. Mark had once again requested Yukhei’s expertise with outfit picking, and turned to their date looking rather nice (yukhei said he looked “hot” but Mark wasn’t one to say this about himself, not that confident yet). Johnny was sumptuous and Mark didn’t have it in him to look away even for a second.

The night went heavenly, they had much more in common than Mark first had thought, and when they had differences it was things that completed one another. On every major issues they agreed, and Johnny was really accepting of Mark’s shyness

Mark had never been in a serious relationship before, and told Johnny about it, about how he had always viewed relationship as a commitment, as something he wanted to handle carefully and was scared to screw up. So they decided to go slow, to start with a few dates, some good night texts, some hand brushing while cooking and go from there.

Going from there worked for them. They spent nights texting, stole kissing in the club room whenever people weren’t looking, and Johnny went to Mark’s room a few times.

They waited a while before spending the night together, and to be honest it was not planned - they were cuddling on Mark’s bed, watching a movie and forgot about the hour when the RA did the roll call. They had to hide Johnny under the bed (that motherfucker tried tickling Mark’s feet while the room was being checked) and Johnny’s own roommate had to lie, saying Johnny went to his parents so Johnny couldn’t go back to his room. “Well too bad, I guess I’m stuck with a big ass pillow now” Mark joked, having trouble hiding his smile.

Months went by, they became boyfriends, kissed even in front of people, didn’t pretend stupid stuff just to see each other anymore and they were comfortable enough to just say, “hey, you up ? miss you”.

One day, Johnny graduated and found an internship, got his own flat he shared with his best friend Kun. Their relationship got a bit rocky at that time, Mark was grumpy about not seeing his boyfriend enough and it manifested in him being cold through text and booking many friend dates with Yukhei and Dejun (Yukhei’s boyfriend, they met at one of Yukhei’s lacrosse game, when Dejun’s best friend, Chan, got injured in the game and their eyes met, sparkling - gross, if you asked Mark - and many troubles later they were attached to the hip and Chan was not the reason why Dejun went to the game anymore.).

But Johnny loved Mark. He really did. He had this whole future pictured in his head, all planned, and he was determined to make it happen. When Mark told him he had already planned something with his friend a day instead of seeing him, when he told him “good night john” without saying “i love you too”, when he forgot to tell him about his exams and grades, Johnny didn’t get mad. He remembered how much he loved him, and how it was the first time for Mark to be with someone so busy and far away from him. He did his best to see him more, to video call him as much as he could, and eventually his internship was over, he got an actual job and decent hours and Mark came to his flat way more.  
Yukhei was pleased, he could have the room all for himself and Dejun.

Since then, Mark had learned not to be grumpy and how to be with someone without being together 24/7, which was healthier. When he noticed how badly he had treated Johnny, he spent weeks trying to apologize and it ended up with them making love for the first time - not as an act out of guilt, but because they talked about their love for each other, got sappy and emotional and felt it was right.

Mark graduated with honours, got accepted into a master program, wrote a really good master thesis, and got accepted into one of the best PhD programs of the country. Johnny had always known Mark was brilliant, and passionate, and that he’d made a bomb ass professor, with all his students learning easily thanks to how well he always explained history-related things, and now he couldn’t be prouder.

Throughout his PhD, Mark lived with Johnny and was grateful for him. Grateful for his love, for his friendship, for his companionship. Without him he wasn’t sure he would have ever felt this loved, and would have loved someone so much. And he couldn’t have kept studying - he was only able to because Johnny worked and could provide for them both, his scholarship wasn’t good enough.

His phD took several years for Mark to complete, but once he finished it and did a wonderful presentation, got acclaimed by his peers, and started giving his own conferences, Johnny couldn’t wait any longer.

Johnny had always been a family man. He told Mark on their second date that he wanted to get married one day, and have at least two kids, and that these were requirements to be his partner. He had reassured him that if he didn’t want these things, they could still be friends and it was completely fine not to want them, or not to be sure, but that he, himself, was really sure of it and didn’t want to get attached to someone who didn’t share this part of his dream. The other part of the dream was to get the dream suburbian house with a huge garden, maybe a swimming pool for the kids, and a dog. He didn’t care as much about this part, especially now that he was with Mark and everything was amazing, splendid, way more than he could have ever hoped for.

However, he was still adamant about the first half of the dream.

So after Mark finished studying, got a professor chair at his alumni university, he couldn’t wait any longer to propose to him.

Mark wanted to get married one day, which he replied on the second date survey, wasn’t sure about two kids but wanted one, and he still wanted to get married and have kids now, especially after having to wait so long.

It was no surprise that Mark said yes a million times when Johnny got on one knee in front of the pool of their newly bought house.

The wedding needed to be perfect, but Johnny didn’t want to hire a professional planner, arguing that it was /impersonal/ and it would mean they would have to pay the professional, meaning less flowers for Mark and that was impardonable to him.

It took a couple of years to plan the wedding, and they decided to adopt a kid shortly after.

Everything was going to be perfect, they had planned it meticulously, put their heart and soul into the ceremony. And there were enough flowers for Mark.

But the only flowers Mark needed that day were chrisanthème.

Johnny had insisted Mark slept at a friend’s place the day before their wedding, so they wouldn’t see each other in their tuxedos— everything had to be perfect. On the morning of the wedding, Johnny got ready at one of his colleagues and best friend’s place, before taking the car and going to the town hall.

Mark got ready at Yukhei’s place, who complimented him a billion times before they got in the car.

Johnny waited for Mark but he never arrived, and Yukhei never got to compliment him a billion more times outside of the car. A motorcycle crossed their paths and Yukhei stopped the car not to collide with them, but it made him lose control of the wheeland they ended up in a river.

Drowning.

Johnny waited a long time until he got a call from the hospital.

He would never get kids with Mark.

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>11

MARK LEE STATUS  
>DEAD (accident)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS BEFORE DEATH  
>100%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS BEFORE DEATH  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> one fiancé (Seo Johnny)  
> four friends (Lee Je No, Lee Dong Hyuck, Xiao De Jun, Kim Do Young)

[HAPPINESS % BEFORE DEATH - starting with 50%  
> professor +25%  
> best friend +15%  
> fiancé +17.5%  
> friend [(+5%)x4]%  
> won championship +3%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 130,5%** ]


	34. Stay like this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter:  
> RATING ; T  
> TW ; panic attack

Mark was a tiny bit too afraid of what the club president would think about him if he asked for another tutor, so he did not.

He kept going to the cooking club, making new dishes and trying them at home again. Yukhei always sent a text to his friends whenever Mark decided to cook, to tell them that if they didn’t hear from him they should blame his roommate for food poisoning.

Eventually, he got better.

Well, his dishes tasted better.

His nights, however, were still horrible.

It culminated after a few weeks of staying with Renjun because of his cowardice.

Mark went to Donghyuck’s house for a sleepover with his team. At the end of their first year, they had wondered if they could stay together, as a team, and they had been really happy, ecstatic even, to learn that yes, they could (they won the championship, of course they could). When they started their 2nd year, they continued with their habits - eating pancakes together, having sleepovers, quizzing each other randomly throughout the day in their group chat.

The evening went well, they quizzed each other for an hour, watched a movie while eating pizza, talked a lot afterward - about the movie, about their lives, university gossip - and then organized the living room into a campsite.

Dejun was sleeping on the sofa, Donghyuck had his own little tent with a mattress, Jeno had five blankets one above the other on the floor to get a sort of comfort. And Mark had a yoga mat with a few blankets and pillows.

They said goodnight to each other—though Dejun had already fallen asleep.

Mark closed his eyes and saw Renjun. He saw Renjun trying to poison him, trying to make him drink a sort of green potion, saying words he couldn’t understand. Then Mark understood he was casting a spell on him. A lot of things were happening all at once, all of them meaning trouble for Mark - and pain. He did not want to be hurt, he did not want Renjun to be mean to him.

He was so afraid.

He tried screaming but he couldn’t make a sound. He tried calling Yukhei for help but he wouldn’t respond. He even called for his mother but she didn’t hear him. He was all alone and so afraid.

That’s when he woke up.

He woke up but it wasn’t the morning yet.  
He woke up but he wasn’t feeling rested.  
He woke up but he wasn’t feeling well, he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

He was gasping for air, his heartbeat getting quicker until it hurt. Mark understood he was having a panic attack —he never had one before but heard about it on the internet— but couldn’t do anything to stop it. He felt so weak, so vulnerable and he just couldn’t breathe.

Or was it that he was breathing too much, hyperventilating? He wasn’t in a state to notice, to understand what was really happening to him— it just hurt, and made him feel miserable.

Suddenly, he felt someone sitting behind him, his arms hugging his middle and their hearts starting to sync. He didn't know who was behind him, but he was breathing slowly, his chest against Mark’s back, trying to reassure him, to make his heartbeat slow down and his breathing normal again.

He didn’t know how long it took, but it eventually worked.

Mark was still shaken up but he looked behind his shoulder and saw Ten - Donghyuck’s older brother. Ten was smiling at him, brushing his hair tenderly while Mark’s friends looked at them, wondering what happened and if he was okay.

“Do you need anything Mark? Water? Something to eat? Ice cream maybe?” Asked Ten. Even after doing all that for him, he was still trying to help and it really made Mark feel better.

“I- water, please.”

Ten went to fetch him some water and Mark was left with his friends, explaining to them he was okay now and they shouldn’t worry.

When Ten came back, he gave the cup of water to Mark and told the others to go back to sleep, that he would take care of him. And when there was nothing left in the cup, Ten offered him to sleep in his bedroom, this way he could look over him while he sleeps. Mark nodded and took his yoga mat with him to Ten’s room.

They settled down, Ten filled Mark’s cup again in case he was thirsty during the night and put on background music - the sound of ocean, waves and wind engulfed the room, helping Mark to fall asleep.

The rest of the night went well, uneventful. Mark slept for five hours until he woke up again, this time it was morning and he was feeling rested up, he wasn’t gasping for air— he felt okay.

However, Ten was still sleeping and Mark didn’t think his friends would be awake this early, he didn’t want to go downstairs in case he might wake them up, so he stayed in Ten’s room.

After half an hour he was bored and started roaming around his room, looking at the books —most of them about sciences, he tried to read one but couldn’t understand the titles—, noticing the plushies next to his bed, the stars on the ceiling, and a weird-looking thing on his desk.

Mark had never seen something quite like that, it looked like some dark matter was levitating between parts made from materials he couldn’t recognize. It piqued his curiosity and he tried touching the matter.

One second he was there, in Ten’s room.

The next he was in some kind of dimension, definitely not in Ten’s room.

Ten was a genius who invented all kinds of machines, his latest was a time machine and Mark happened to get trapped in it. Where should he start again ?

**  
GAME OVER  
**

PLAYER  
>ONE

STATISTICS ROAD  
>12

MARK LEE STATUS  
>ALIVE (another dimension)

DREAM COMPLETION STATUS BEFORE TIME TRAVEL  
>50%

RELATIONSHIP STATUS BEFORE TIME TRAVEL  
> one best friend (Wong Yuk Hei)  
> five friends (Lee Je No, Lee Dong Hyuck, Xiao De Jun, Kim Do Young, Lee Ten)

[HAPPINESS % BEFORE TIME TRAVEL - starting with 50%  
> university student +2%  
> best friend +15%  
> friend [(+5%)x5]%  
> won championship +3%  
 **TOTAL HAPPINESS : 95%** ]


End file.
